Thailand F-16 jet bombs Cambodian targets as border clash escalates
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Live updates: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes, Thai F-16 fighter jets deployed against Cambodian military targets
Thailand’s 361,000 active-duty personnel is three times Cambodia’s manpower. Thailand has dozens of battle tanks, including 60 modern, Chinese-made VT-4 tanks. The Thai army boasts more than 600 artillery pieces, including at least 56 powerful 155mm weapons. Cambodia has only a dozen 155mm guns with around 400 smaller towed artillery pieces. Thailand’s armed forces are also regular participants in international military exercises, most prominently the annual Cobra Gold exercises, which Bangkok co-hosts with the US Indo-Pacific Command.
Thailand’s military dwarfs that of neighboring Cambodia, both in personnel and weaponry.
Thailand’s 361,000 active-duty personnel spread across all branches of its military is three times Cambodia’s manpower.
And Thailand is far ahead of Cambodia when it comes to weaponry.
“Thailand has a large, well-funded military and its air force is one of the best equipped and trained in Southeast Asia,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies wrote in its “Military Balance 2025” report on the world’s armed forces.
The US classes Thailand as a major non-NATO ally, the IISS notes. That has enabled it to enjoy decades of US support for its weapons programs, although it has also boosted ties with China in recent years and has developed a strong domestic weapons industry with the help of countries such as Israel, Italy, Russia, South Korea and Sweden, the report said.
The air force’s equipment includes at least 11 modern Swedish Gripen fighter jets and dozens of older US-made F-16 and F-5 jets, according to the IISS. Cambodia has no combat-capable air force.
On the ground, Thailand has dozens of battle tanks, including 60 modern, Chinese-made VT-4 tanks, and hundreds of older, US-made tanks. Cambodia has around 200 old Chinese- and Soviet-made tanks, the “Military Balance” shows.
The Thai army boasts more than 600 artillery pieces, including at least 56 powerful 155mm weapons and more than 550 105mm towed guns. Cambodia has only a dozen 155mm guns with around 400 smaller towed artillery pieces, according to IISS figures.
In the air, the Thai army has US-made Cobra attack helicopters and 18 US Black Hawk transports. Cambodia has only a few dozen older Soviet and Chinese transport helicopters.
Thailand’s armed forces are also regular participants in international military exercises, most prominently the annual Cobra Gold exercises, which Bangkok co-hosts with the US Indo-Pacific Command. Cobra Gold began in 1982 as joint drills with the US, but has added dozens of other participants since then. It’s the longest-running international military exercise in the world, according to the US military.
Thailand-Cambodia Border Clash LIVE Updates: ‘Not yet declared war on India,’ says Thai acting PM
Thailand has accused Cambodia of using heavy weaponry, including Russian RPGs, on its territory unprovoked. The Thai military deployed US-made F-16 fighter jets to strike Cambodian targets. Two civilians was killed and three others, including a five-year-old boy, were seriously injured after Cambodian forces shelled a residential area in Surin province. In response to the shelling, the Thai army said it carried out airstrikes on military targets inside Cambodia. Cambodia has slammed Thailand’s airstrikes as an “armed invasion,” vowing to respond with force. China has issued a safety advisory for its nationals in Cambodia, urging them to steer clear of areas near the Thai border as tensions and fighting escalate. Cambodia, which maintains close ties with Beijing, has seen a surge in Chinese investment and tourism in recent years. It has become clear that Cambodia is the one pushing Thailand into a corner, leaving it with no choice but to respond, according to World broadcaster Thai PBS. The cross-border strikes by Cambodia on Thursday have killed nine civilians and wounded 14 others.
An F-16 jet of the air force in Nakhon Ratchasima province. (File photo: Royal Thai Air Force) Please credit and share this article with others using this link: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2829907/us-offering-lower-rates-for-f-16-deal. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved.
Thailand has reported that two civilians was killed and three others, including a five-year-old boy, were seriously injured after Cambodian forces shelled a residential area in Surin province. According to defence ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri, the situation has escalated rapidly, with clashes now reported in at least six locations along the Thai-Cambodian border. In response to the shelling, the Thai army said it carried out airstrikes on military targets inside Cambodia. The Cambodian defence ministry claimed Thailand used fighter jets to bomb a road near the ancient Preah Vihear temple.
In a strongly worded statement, the ministry warned that Thailand is “prepared to escalate self-defence measures” if Cambodia continues its military aggression and violations of Thai sovereignty, citing international law and norms.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry has accused Cambodian forces of targeting civilian areas, including a hospital, in recent cross-border attacks that resulted in casualties.
“We have used air power against military targets as planned,” said Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon.
Thailand’s military confirmed that one of six F-16 fighter jets prepared for the border conflict carried out an airstrike on a Cambodian military position.
Hun Manet confirmed that Thai forces targeted Cambodian military positions near the Ta Moan Thom and Ta Krabey temples in Oddar Meanchey province, and later expanded the assault to the Mom Bei area.
“Cambodia has always sought peaceful solutions, but in this case, we have no choice but to respond with force,” he said in a social media post.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has slammed Thailand’s airstrikes as an “armed invasion,” vowing to respond with force.
Earlier in the day, Thai officials had reported that Cambodian shelling killed at least two civilians and injured others in separate attacks near the border.
According to Thai public broadcaster Thai PBS, the incident took place in Ban Phue town, located about 20km from the border in Sisaket province’s Kantharalak district.
Thailand has accused Cambodian forces of shelling a petrol station well inside its territory, killing at least three people.
The warning comes as clashes intensify between Thai and Cambodian forces near disputed border zones. Cambodia, which maintains close ties with Beijing, has seen a surge in Chinese investment and tourism in recent years.
In a statement posted online, the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia advised its citizens to “stay alert, strengthen safety precautions, and closely monitor the local security situation.”
China has issued a safety advisory for its nationals in Cambodia, urging them to steer clear of areas near the Thai border as tensions and fighting escalate.
Six of the victims were killed in a strike near a petrol station in Sisaket province, according to a military statement said, while the remaining thre,e including an eight-year-old child, were killed in Surin and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.
The cross-border strikes by Cambodia on Thursday have killed nine civilians and wounded 14 others, Thailand’s military said
Former Cambodian Prime Minister and President of the country’s Senate, Hun Sen, issued a warning to Thailand, saying “Cambodia is fully prepared for combat[…]Do not boast of your superior military power or think of invading Cambodia. You will face the most severe retaliation.”
Maj Gen Winthai also spoke about the decision to launch an operation, known as the ‘Chakraphong Phuvanaat military strategy’, to deal with Cambodia. This is a national defence plan that outlines the roles and readiness of various military units.
Thai Army spokesman Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree on Thursday said it has now become clear that Cambodia is the one pushing Thailand into a corner, leaving it with no choice but to respond, according to Thai PBS World.
“There are signs that the conflict may become prolonged and expand further,” the statement said.
A statement posted on the embassy’s Facebook page said it has been monitoring the rising tensions between Thailand and Cambodia closely adding that the situation continues to grow worse, with border clashes occurring in several areas.
The Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh has urged Thai nationals in Cambodia to leave the country as early as feasible due to the escalating conflict.
12 people have died along the Thailand-Cambodia border as weeks of simmering tensions escalated into clashes.
The neighbours are locked in a bitter spat over an area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of both countries and Laos meet, and which is home to several ancient temples.
Thailand launched air strikes on Cambodian military targets on Thursday as Cambodia fired rockets and artillery in a dramatic escalation of a long-running border row between the two countries.
“The least we can expect is for them to stand down and hopefully try to enter into negotiation,” said Anwar, whose country currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which includes Cambodia and Thailand.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called on Thailand and Cambodia to “stand down” Thursday following deadly border clashes between the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
The International Court of Justice had ruled in favour of Cambodia in 1962 and again reaffirmed that stance in 2013 after deadly clashes. Cambodia has returned to the court to settle the ongoing dispute, but Thailand has rejected its jurisdiction.
The roots of the territorial dispute date back more than a century, centred on colonial-era French maps and the fate of ancient temples straddling the border. In particular, the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple remains a symbolic and strategic flashpoint.
The fallout weakened her ruling coalition and sparked nationalist protests. Her apology failed to quell the backlash, and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has since taken over as acting prime minister.
Domestic political turmoil has complicated the crisis. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office earlier this month after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian figure triggered accusations of undermining Thai sovereignty. In the call, she referred to Cambodian ex-PM Hun Sen as “uncle” and criticised her country’s military.
Thailand responded with border restrictions, now extended to a complete closure. The dispute, rooted in conflicting interpretations of colonial-era maps, has once again spotlighted the fragility of peace along the 800-km frontier separating the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
The latest violence follows a series of confrontations since May, when a Cambodian soldier was shot dead in an earlier skirmish. Despite pledges to de-escalate, both sides have taken economic and diplomatic steps that worsened relations. Cambodia banned Thai imports including fuel and produce, and suspended cultural and digital links.
Thai authorities have now fully sealed the border, halting all crossings.
The confrontation marks a major escalation after months of simmering tensions, with exchanges of gunfire, shelling, and even Thai air strikes reported. The latest violence occurred near the Ta Muen Thom temple area in Surin province, following a land mine blast that injured Thai soldiers and prompted both countries to downgrade diplomatic ties.
Armed clashes erupted on Thursday between Thai and Cambodian forces across at least six disputed areas along their shared border, killing at least nine Thai civilians and injuring 14 others, Thai officials said.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday, following the deadly cross-border firing with Thailand. “Considering the recent extremely grave aggressions by Thailand, which have gravely threatened peace and stability in the region, I earnestly request you to convene an urgent meeting of the Security Council to stop Thailand’s aggression,” PM Manet wrote in a letter addressed to the sitting UN Security Council president Asim Iftikhar Ahmad.
Khmer Times, a Cambodian English news publication, reported that Cambodian army has a strong foothold at Ta Moan Thom Temple and Ta Krabey Temple. These temple complexes, initially built as Hindu shrines and later entering the Buddhist fold, are at the centre of the current border clashes.
Cambodian and Thai troops are still fighting and shelling each other on the border, with either side refusing to retreat. Heavy shelling and firing have been reported.
“Without any provocation, they used heavy weapons to fire indiscriminately into the Thai territory, prompting Thai forces to respond,” he said after an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), according to Thai PBS World.
Lieutenant General Maly Socheata, Undersecretary of State and Spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense of Cambodia, on Thursday afternoon said that after fierce fighting with the Thai side, the Cambodian army successfully occupied the Ta Krabey Temple, the Mom Bei area, and the Ta Moan Thom Temple, calling them “Cambodian sovereign territory.”
Thai military officials reported that rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and the Russian-made BM-21 multiple rocket launchers were used in the attacks, Thai media reports said.
Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai described the firefight between the Thai and Cambodian forces “merely as clashes.” “We have not yet declared war on Cambodia. What is happening are just armed clashes,” he said.
The 2nd Army Region has released images showing Royal Thai Air Force F-16 fighter jets conducting precision airstrikes on Cambodian military command posts. The operation targeted the 8th and 9th Support Infantry Division Headquarters, which were identified as key units… pic.twitter.com/PSO535anuv
“We have used air power against military targets as planned,” according to a report by Bangkok Post.
Col Ritcha Suksuwanon, a Royal Thai Army deputy spokesperson, told reporters that the warplanes were deployed late Thursday morning from Ubon Ratchathani province, hitting two “Cambodian military targets on the ground.”
Thailand deployed six F-16 fighter jets to carry out air strikes on Cambodia on Thursday.
Contrary to these claims, Thailand has claimed that the use of landmines that injured Thai soldiers was the trigger point.
8:47 AM – Cambodian forces return fire in defence of national sovereignty in response to Thai military aggression.
8:46 AM – Thai troops open fire on Cambodian forces stationed at Ta Moan Thom Temple. The skirmishes escalate towards Ta Krabei Temple and the Phnom Kmoach area. The Thai military also broadens the conflict zone by launching attacks, including the use of fighter jets, towards the Mom Bei area in Preah Vihear province.
7:04 AM – Thai drones are observed hovering in Cambodian airspace for about two minutes.
6:30 AM – The Thai military initiates provocative actions, violating bilateral agreements by covertly installing barbed wire at the base of Ta Moan Thom Temple.
Cambodian Ministry of National Defence released a statement on the timeline of events leading to border clashes on Thursday.
Contrary to these claims, Thailand has claimed that the use of landmines that injured Thai soldiers was the trigger point.
8:47 AM – Cambodian forces return fire in defence of national sovereignty in response to Thai military aggression.
8:46 AM – Thai troops open fire on Cambodian forces stationed at Ta Moan Thom Temple. The skirmishes escalate towards Ta Krabei Temple and the Phnom Kmoach area. The Thai military also broadens the conflict zone by launching attacks, including the use of fighter jets, towards the Mom Bei area in Preah Vihear province.
7:04 AM – Thai drones are observed hovering in Cambodian airspace for about two minutes.
6:30 AM – The Thai military initiates provocative actions, violating bilateral agreements by covertly installing barbed wire at the base of Ta Moan Thom Temple.
Cambodian Ministry of National Defence released a statement on the timeline of events leading to border clashes on Thursday.
“We knew that as long as the troops were there, there was always a potential for clashes,” he said.
“At this point, it’s no time for talks,” he said, recalling that Thailand has tried unsuccessfully to have bilateral talks with Cambodia for armed forces on both sides to redeploy away from the disputed border areas.
The General said Cambodia had ignored all offers by Thailand for dialogue to lessen tensions over disputed border areas and the opening of border check-points, according to Thai PBS World.
Gen Nattaphon Nakpanich, the Deputy Defence Minister of Thailand, on Thurday said that time for talks with Cambodia has well passed as the neighbouring nations’ armed forces clashed along several border areas.
Armed clashes erupted on Thursday between Thai and Cambodian forces across at least six disputed areas along their shared border, killing at least nine Thai civilians and injuring 14 others, Thai officials said.
The confrontation marks a major escalation after months of simmering tensions, with exchanges of gunfire, shelling, and even Thai air strikes reported. The latest violence occurred near the Ta Muen Thom temple area in Surin province, following a land mine blast that injured Thai soldiers and prompted both countries to downgrade diplomatic ties.
Thai authorities have now fully sealed the border, halting all crossings.
The latest violence follows a series of confrontations since May, when a Cambodian soldier was shot dead in an earlier skirmish. Despite pledges to de-escalate, both sides have taken economic and diplomatic steps that worsened relations. Cambodia banned Thai imports including fuel and produce, and suspended cultural and digital links.
Thailand responded with border restrictions, now extended to a complete closure. The dispute, rooted in conflicting interpretations of colonial-era maps, has once again spotlighted the fragility of peace along the 800-km frontier separating the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
Domestic political turmoil has complicated the crisis. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office earlier this month after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian figure triggered accusations of undermining Thai sovereignty. In the call, she referred to Cambodian ex-PM Hun Sen as “uncle” and criticised her country’s military.
The fallout weakened her ruling coalition and sparked nationalist protests. Her apology failed to quell the backlash, and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has since taken over as acting prime minister.
The roots of the territorial dispute date back more than a century, centred on colonial-era French maps and the fate of ancient temples straddling the border. In particular, the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple remains a symbolic and strategic flashpoint.
The International Court of Justice ruled in favour of Cambodia in 1962 and again reaffirmed that stance in 2013 after deadly clashes. Cambodia has returned to the court to settle the ongoing dispute, but Thailand has rejected its jurisdiction.
With historical grievances now reignited by fresh violence, a diplomatic resolution appears increasingly elusive.
Thailand, Cambodia exchange air attacks, shelling in deadly border clashes
This article is part of a two-part series on the history of the U.S. military. The first part of the series looks at the history and culture of the United States. The second part focuses on the current state of the war in Afghanistan. The third part will look at the state of Afghanistan and the future of the country. The fourth part will focus on the state and future of Afghanistan’s war in the Middle East. This article is a joint effort by CNN and The Wall Street Journal. For more information, visit: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/01/08/business/how-the-war-in-afghanistan-becoming-a-hotbed-of-tensions-and-conflict-between-warring-states/story.html?storylink=cpy. For the second part, CNN iReporter will be on the ground in Afghanistan to document the progress of the conflict. The story will be written by CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout.
A Thai F-16 jet has bombed targets in Cambodia, as a simmering border dispute and diplomatic meltdown rapidly ignited into fierce clashes, bombing and shelling that have killed at least 11 civilians and a soldier in Thailand.
Thailand and Cambodia blamed each other for the new outbreak of fighting that erupted early on Thursday in an area near the disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple, located in a border area in northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.
Fighting then spread to at least six areas along the border, Thai military official Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said, leading Thailand’s military to close the border between the countries.
Amid regional calls for mediation, Thailand’s caretaker Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told a news conference that fighting had to stop before there could be any negotiations. He said there had been no declaration of war and that the fighting was not spreading to other provinces.
Thailand’s Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said 11 civilians, including an eight-year-old boy, and a soldier had been killed in artillery shelling by Cambodian forces. He said 24 civilians and seven military personnel had been wounded.
Somsak told reporters that Cambodia’s actions, including an attack on a hospital, should be considered war crimes.
A Thai military statement detailing the casualties said six civilians had been killed and two wounded in shelling near a petrol station in Ban Phue, Kantharalak district, Sisaket province, about 20km (12 miles) from the border.
Advertisement
Other casualties included two civilians, including the eight-year-old, killed in an attack near the Ban Chorok area, Kabcheing district, Surin province, which wounded two others. Another person was killed and one wounded in Nam Yuen district, Ubon Ratchathani province, the statement said.
The fighting has led to the evacuation of at least 40,000 civilians from 86 villages near the border to safer locations, a district official in Surin province told the Reuters news agency, as residents fled to bomb shelters built of concrete and fortified with sandbags and car tyres.
Cambodia has made no statement about any casualties on its side.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council in response to the violence, saying it “gravely threatened peace in the region”.
Both sides trade blame
Both countries issued statements accusing the other of instigating the fighting that erupted early on Thursday near a disputed temple, following weeks of heightened tension between the neighbours.
Thailand’s military said that, early on Thursday, Cambodia had deployed a surveillance drone before sending troops to the area, who they said had opened fire with heavy weapons, including artillery and long-range BM21 rockets, forcing Thai soldiers to retaliate.
Thailand’s military said six F-16s had been readied to deploy in the border conflict, and that their raids had hit two “Cambodian military targets on the ground”, according to Thai military deputy spokesperson Ritcha Suksuwanon.
In a situation deteriorating by the hour, Cambodian forces launched attacks on civilian areas in Thailand, including a hospital, causing deaths, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence said the Thai jets dropped two bombs on a road, and that it “strongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia”.
The Cambodian ministry also accused Thailand of attacking first and violating an agreement designed to de-escalate tension, saying its troops had acted in self-defence after coming under attack.
Cambodia’s influential former prime minister, Hun Sen, said in a post on social media that Thailand’s military had shelled two Cambodian provinces bordering Thailand, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear, adding that “the Cambodian army has no choice but to fight back and counterattack”.
Advertisement
He also called for the public to remain calm and not panic-buy food supplies.
Thailand has announced school closures in some regions, while Cambodia also said it had evacuated students and teachers from affected areas.
‘Stand down’: Malaysian PM
The fighting has drawn expressions of concern from other Asian countries, which have called for a halt to the violence.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to which Thailand and Cambodia belong, called for calm and said he would speak to leaders of both countries on Thursday evening to push for a peaceful resolution.
“The least we can expect is for them to stand down and hopefully try to enter into negotiation,” said Anwar.
“Peace is the only option available.”
At a briefing, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiaku, also expressed Beijing’s deep concern about the situation, saying it hoped both sides would address their issues through dialogue. He said China would play a constructive role in promoting de-escalation.
Long-simmering dispute ‘exploded’
Reporting from Koh Lanta, southern Thailand, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said the dispute “has been simmering for some time, but it seems to have exploded today”.
“There was a feeling up until today that this was a game of pressure, waiting to see who would crack first,” he said. “We hadn’t seen a lot of actual exchanges of fire over the border – but today, that all changed.”
He said the fighting had its origins in a longstanding dispute over the border drawn between the countries by the French during Cambodia’s colonial era, in regions where there had been relatively free movement of people back and forth for generations.
The dispute has dragged on for decades, flaring into deadly military clashes more than 15 years ago, and then again in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a firefight further to the north of the conflict areas.
In recent weeks, tensions surged again after Thai soldiers were severely injured by landmines that the Thai military says were newly laid by Cambodian forces on the Thai side of the border. Meanwhile, Cambodia announced that it would begin military conscription from next year.
Cheng said nationalist sentiment was surging on both sides, with Hun Sen – the former Cambodian prime minister and father of the current prime minister – “right at the heart of” whipping up tensions in his country over the dispute.
Thailand, Cambodia downgrade diplomatic relations
For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817km (508-mile) land border.
The latest skirmishes broke out after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia late on Wednesday, and said it would expel Cambodia’s envoy, after a second Thai soldier lost a limb to a landmine, which Bangkok claimed had been recently laid by Cambodia in the disputed area, in a week. In response, Cambodia said it would withdraw all of its diplomats from Thailand and ordered all Thai diplomats to leave.
Advertisement
Cambodia has denied planting mines and claims that Thai soldiers have veered off agreed paths and triggered mines left behind from Cambodia’s civil war.
Thailand launches airstrike on Cambodia as border clash escalates
Thailand and Cambodia share a 508-mile border, which includes several tracts of disputed territory. Tensions began to climb last month after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a skirmish. Thai solders patrolling a disputed border region have been maimed by land mines. Thailand then flew an F-16 fighter jet over Cambodia, dropping bombs on what it called a military target. The two militaries exchanged shots across the border near the sites of several ancient temples, including the Preah Vihear Temple, which has been designated by the U.N. as a world heritage site, officials say. The clashes, they say, stemmed from Thailand’s claims of sovereignty over border areas.
Thailand and Cambodia share a 508-mile border, which includes several tracts of disputed territory. Thai solders patrolling a disputed border region have been maimed by land mines, most recently on Wednesday, prompting Thailand to recall its ambassador from Phnom Penh and expel the Cambodian envoy from Bangkok.
Advertisement
The following morning, the two militaries exchanged shots across the border near the sites of several ancient temples, including the Preah Vihear Temple, which has been designated by the United Nations as a world heritage site. Among the nine civilians killed was an 8-year-old boy, with 14 others injured, the Royal Thai Army said in a statement. A gas station, residences and other structures were also damaged.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Thailand — a U.S. security treaty ally — then flew an F-16 fighter jet over Cambodia, dropping bombs on what it called a military target.
Cambodia confirmed the airstrikes, saying munitions had been dropped on a road leading to a pagoda. Authorities were still verifying whether there had been any civilian casualties from the day.
Each military has blamed the other for opening fire first on Thursday morning.
Chhum Socheat, spokesperson for Cambodia’s Defense Ministry, said Cambodian soldiers had approached Thai soldiers who were laying barbed wire around a temple in disputed territory. “The Thai soldiers fired first, and then we fought back for defense,” he said in a phone interview. “We exercised our right to self-defense.”
Advertisement
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Thailand launched “unprovoked, premeditated and deliberate” attacks on Cambodian positions. The clashes, he added, stemmed from Thailand’s claims of sovereignty over border areas.
Advertisement Advertisement
Thai officials dispute that. The military said Cambodian personnel began shooting first, attacking Thai troops with rocket-propelled grenades and firing heavy artillery at a Thai military base. “Such actions fundamentally contradict the principles of good neighborly relations and good faith and will further undermine Cambodia’s reputation and credibility on the global stage,” the Thai Foreign Ministry said.
In 2011, similar clashes between the two nations killed 20 people and drove thousands on both sides of the border from their homes.
Advertisement
The recent violence has led to swelling hostility between the two populations.
After Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was caught on a phone call appearing deferential to Cambodian leaders over the dispute, Thai legislators and members of the public responded with outrage, prompting calls for her to resign. She was suspended from official duties this month as Thailand’s Constitutional Court evaluates her removal.