Latest news with #crossborderfighting
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Thailand accuses Cambodia of violating fragile ceasefire for a second time
Thailand has accused Cambodia of a 'flagrant violation' of a truce to end cross-border fighting, claiming Cambodian troops launched an overnight attack on the frontier. The neighbours agreed a ceasefire starting Tuesday after five days of clashes killed at least 43 people on both sides, as a longstanding dispute over contested border regions boiled over into open combat across the 800km frontier. Thailand's foreign ministry said its troops in Sisaket province 'came under attack by small arms fire and grenade assaults launched by Cambodian forces' in an offensive which continued until Wednesday morning. 'This represents a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement,' said a foreign ministry statement. Thai government spokesperson Jirayu Huangsab also reported overnight clashes but said in a statement 'the Thai side maintained control of the situation' and 'general conditions along the border are reported to be normal' from 8am Wednesday. Cambodia has previously denied breaking the truce, designed to end fighting which has seen the two countries evacuate a total of more than 300,000 people from the border region. The armistice got off to a shaky start in the early hours of Tuesday, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of continuing attacks in 'a clear attempt to undermine mutual trust' – before calm generally prevailed. Meetings between rival commanders along the border – scheduled as part of the pact – went ahead on Tuesday, with Thailand's army saying de-escalation steps were agreed including 'a halt on troop reinforcements or movements that could lead to misunderstandings'. But later in the day a foreign affairs spokesperson for Bangkok's border crisis centre, Maratee Nalita Andamo, warned: 'In this moment, in the early days of the ceasefire, the situation is still fragile'. Jets, rockets and artillery have killed at least 15 Thai troops and 15 Thai civilians, while Cambodia has confirmed only eight civilian and five military deaths. The peace pact was sealed in Malaysia after intervention from US President Donald Trump – who both Thailand and Cambodia are courting for a trade deal to avert his threat of eye-watering tariffs.
CNA
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
Evacuees cautiously welcome Thai-Cambodia truce, brace for return to uncertainty
SURIN, THAILAND: Thai evacuees welcomed news of a ceasefire with Cambodia on Monday (Jul 28) with a mix of relief and scepticism, as the midnight truce loomed after five days of deadly cross-border fighting. 'I'd be so happy if the ceasefire really happens,' said Jeanjana Phaphan, a 48-year-old farmer who fled her home in Phanom Dong Rak district with her three-year-old son. 'If it's truly ending, I'm overjoyed, the happiest I've felt in a long time,' she said at a shelter in Surin city, about 50km from the border. Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an 'unconditional' ceasefire, following combat that killed at least 38 people and displaced nearly 300,000. The fighting erupted last Thursday along the jungle-clad frontier, a region long disputed and dotted with ancient temples. The agreement, brokered in Malaysia by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, came after mediation efforts by US President Donald Trump and Chinese negotiators. VOICES OF RELIEF AND DOUBT Jeanjana, like many others, reacted to the ceasefire news with cautious optimism. 'If our two countries keep fighting, the hardship and loss will only grow,' she said. 'People on that side are civilians too, just like us. On our side we're just farmers — and I believe they are farmers like us too. Ordinary people working to survive.' But not everyone was confident in the ceasefire's durability. 'I still have doubts that Cambodia will follow through with what they agreed to,' said Tee Samanjai, a 68-year-old farmer who had also evacuated. 'We may go home, but with unease. There's no peace of mind. I want to go back, but I don't trust Cambodia at all. No one in our village does.' For Tee, returning home means tending to life's basics. 'The first thing I'll do when I get home is check on the chickens, fertilise the rice, and take care of the fields,' he said. ACROSS THE BORDER In Cambodia, similar concerns echoed from villagers displaced by the conflict. At a temple shelter in Phumi Bak Thkav, 55-year-old farmer Say Yoeun said he longed to return home. 'I am not happy to stay somewhere like this,' he said. 'I miss my home and livestock — and I cannot take care of my paddy field.' Cambodian and Thai military commanders are scheduled to meet on Tuesday morning if the truce holds. Only then will villagers be allowed to return and assess the damage to their homes and farmland. 'A MINIMUM FIRST STEP' Kavindhra Tiamsai, a 33-year-old Thai who helped evacuate her mother from the conflict zone, said the fighting highlighted how people living in rural border areas are often neglected by their governments. 'A ceasefire is a good option but also the minimum,' she said. 'What we need is a comprehensive, grounded plan that speaks to the realities of rural life — one that doesn't assume evacuation is easy or even possible when most families have no transport, no money to buffer, and no safety net to lean on.'
Sky News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Thailand and Cambodia agree to peace talks after Trump intervention
Thai and Cambodian leaders will meet in Malaysia for talks to end the cross-border fighting that has seen dozens of people killed. The move comes after Donald Trump intervened, suggesting to the leaders of both countries that continued hostilities would harm their chances of getting a trade deal with the US. He posted about the conversations on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday and later said both sides agreed to meet to negotiate a ceasefire. At least 34 people, including 13 civilians, have died, while more than 200,000 have been forced to leave their homes to escape the fighting, now into its fourth day. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Sunday his country agreed to pursue an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire". He said Mr Trump told him that Thailand had also agreed to halt attacks following the US leader's conversation with Acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai. The Cambodian leader said it was "positive news for the soldiers and people of both countries". Thailand's foreign ministry expressed cautious support, reporting that its leader told Mr Trump Thailand agreed in principle to a ceasefire while insisting on the need for "sincere intention" from its South East Asian neighbour. He called for swift bilateral talks to discuss concrete steps toward a peaceful resolution, the ministry said. But even as hopes for a lasting peace grew, hours later in the early hours of Sunday, each accused the other of shelling targets across the disputed border areas. 2:41 In what appeared to be a sign of immediate progress, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, quoting Malaysia's foreign minister Mohamad Hasan, said the two leaders will open peace talks in Malaysia on Monday. The two nations have been at loggerheads over border areas for decades and simmering tensions escalated into an exchange of gunfire, shelling and rockets on 24 July, with both sides accusing one another of initiating the violence. Both countries recalled their ambassadors and Thailand closed its border crossings with Cambodia. Relations between the pair deteriorated sharply after an armed confrontation in May that killed a Cambodian soldier. Nationalist passions on both sides have further inflamed the situation. Both countries claim to own the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, among other areas.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Cambodia calls for immediate ceasefire with Thailand
Cambodia has called for an "immediate" ceasefire with Thailand, after two days of cross-border fighting between the two South East Asian ambassador to the UN, Chhea Keo, said his country asked for a truce "unconditionally", adding that Phnom Penh also wanted a "peaceful solution of the dispute".Thailand has not publicly commented on the ceasefire proposal. It earlier declared martial law in eight districts bordering least 16 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in both countries, who accuse each other of firing the first shots on Thursday. Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai on Friday warned that the clashes could "move towards war".He said the fighting now included heavy weapons and had spread to 12 locations along the also accused Cambodia of firing into civilian areas and evacuated all villages deemed to be within the radius of its for its part, accused Thailand of using cluster munitions. Cluster munitions are banned in much of the world because of their indiscriminate effect on civilian populations. Thailand has not responded to the Thailand's foreign minister told the Reuters news agency there was "no need" for third-party mediation in the conflict, even as global leaders appealed for an immediate Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who chairs the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), had earlier offered to facilitate talks between the two US also called for an "immediate cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians and a peaceful resolution of the conflict". Thailand says 14 civilians and one soldier have been killed in the country's Surin, Ubon Ratchathani and Srisaket provinces, while provincial authorities in Cambodia say at least one civilian was says the clashes began with Cambodia's military deploying drones to conduct surveillance of Thai troops near the says Thai soldiers initiated the conflict when they violated a prior agreement by advancing on a Khmer-Hindu temple near the dispute between the two countries dates back to more than 100 years ago, when the borders of the two nations were drawn after the French occupation of have been sporadic clashes over the years which saw soldiers and civilians killed on both latest tensions ramped up in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash, plunging bilateral ties to their lowest point in more than a decade.
