BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH — A fierce border battle between Thailand and Cambodia raged for a second day and spread to new fronts on Tuesday, as both countries accused each other of shelling civilian areas and Bangkok vowed to push on with its planned military operations.
With the neighbors trading blame for starting Monday’s renewed clashes, it was unclear how or if a fragile ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump in July could be salvaged.
Thailand’s military said its tanks fired shells into a border casino complex being used by Cambodia’s army as a firing position and weapons storage area, while fighter jets conducted air strikes for a second day on what the air force said were strategic military targets.
Cambodia’s defense ministry said its troops had no choice but to take defensive action on Tuesday and accused Thailand of “indiscriminately and brutally targeting civilian residential areas” with artillery shells, allegations Bangkok rejected.
‘We can’t stop now,’ says Thai PM
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ruled out dialogue and said the military had a plan that it would carry out in full.
“We can’t stop now. We’ve already given our commitment to the armed forces that they can fully carry out the planned operations. The government is providing support in every way,” Anutin told reporters.
Both countries have said they have evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from border areas. Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said nine civilians were killed since Monday and 20 seriously injured, while Thai officials said three soldiers had been killed and 29 people were injured.
The fighting is the most intense since a five-day exchange of rockets and heavy artillery in July that marked their heaviest clashes in recent history, when at least 48 people were killed and 300,000 displaced before Trump intervened to broker a ceasefire.
Tensions have simmered since Thailand last month suspended de-escalation measures agreed at a summit and overseen by Trump, which included withdrawing troops and heavy weapons, after a Thai soldier was maimed by a landmine that Bangkok said Cambodia had recently laid. Phnom Penh rejects the allegation.
Fighting on new fronts
It is unclear what triggered the latest round of hostilities and the prospects of resolution appeared dim on Tuesday, with both countries vowing to fight on and defend their sovereignty.
In an interview with Reuters, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said he saw no potential for negotiations with Cambodia, adding the situation was not conducive to third-party mediation and Cambodia must stop hostilities.
“What Cambodia can do is stop what they’re doing,” he said, “and say that they’re ready to have talks.”
Fighting broke out in new locations on Tuesday along the 817-km (508-mile) border, stretching from the forested hills bordering Laos to Thailand’s coastal province of Trat, where the military said navy-led operations were under way to expel Cambodian soldiers. It said Cambodia was using artillery, rocket launchers, and bomb-dropping drones.
Cambodia’s influential former leader Hun Sen said his country had waited 24 hours to honour the ceasefire and allow for evacuations before launching counterattacks overnight against Thai forces.
“Cambodia needs peace, but Cambodia is compelled to counterattack to defend our territory,” he said in a Facebook post, saying strong bunkers and weapons gave Cambodian forces the advantage in defending against an “invading enemy.”
‘I want it to end’
Verified videos from Cambodia showed long lines of vehicles and motorcycles leaving border areas and a thick plume of smoke in the sky after an explosion near the town of Samroang, about 21 km (13 miles) from the border.
In Thailand’s Buriram province, evacuees dozed on floor mats under large tents as others joined queues for meals and children played outside.
Laongdao Chulsri, 34, fled her home on Monday for the second time after being displaced by the last round of fighting in July.
“I want it to end. I want this to be the last fight to end it all,” she said, holding her infant son and fighting back tears.
Thailand has superior military capabilities, with armed forces that dwarf its neighbor in terms of personnel, budget and weaponry, including fighter jets that the armed forces said were carrying out air strikes on hostile positions.
“Thai operations focus solely on military targets … to reduce the Cambodian military capabilities,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said.
Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at undemarcated points along their land border, with disputes over ancient temples stirring nationalist fervor and occasional armed flare-ups, including a deadly week-long artillery exchange in 2011. — Reuters
