Death roll rises as renewed hostilities flare along Thai-Cambodia border

Both sides person decided to proceed the fighting, arsenic the Thai navy launches an cognition to expel Cambodian troops.

Thailand and Cambodia person traded blasted for renewed clashes on their disputed borderline and pledged to proceed the fighting, arsenic the decease toll climbs successful the latest outbreak of hostilities betwixt the neighbours.

Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence said connected Tuesday 9 civilians had been killed and 20 injured since Monday, portion the Thai subject said 2 much deaths meant that 3 soldiers had been killed and 29 wounded connected its broadside since clashes resumed.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 4What’s successful the Thai-Cambodia bid statement and tin it hold?
• list 2 of 4Thailand suspends Cambodia bid woody aft landmine blast
• list 3 of 4Cambodia denies Thai landmine claims arsenic truce hangs successful the balance
• list 4 of 4Thai soldier, 4 Cambodian civilians killed arsenic borderline tensions reignite

Renewed fighting broke retired connected Sunday nighttime successful a skirmish successful which 1 Thai worker was killed, forcing tens of thousands of radical from their homes and shattering an uneasy bid that had held since 5 days of clashes successful July.

That bout of fighting, involving the speech of rockets and dense artillery occurrence and fuelled by competing territorial claims on their border, resulted successful astatine slightest 48 deaths connected some sides and the impermanent evacuation of much than 300,000 civilians earlier a ceasefire was brokered by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and United States President Donald Trump.

Thailand, however, suspended the implementation of the ceasefire pact past month, pursuing a landmine blast that maimed 1 of its soldiers.

Cambodia ‘forced to fight’

Cambodia’s almighty Senate President Hun Sen claimed successful a connection connected societal media connected Tuesday that the subject had been refraining from firing astatine Thai forces the erstwhile day, but had begun shooting backmost overnight.

He said targeting areas wherever Thai forces were advancing would let Cambodia’s subject to “weaken and destruct force forces done counterattacks”.

“Cambodia wants peace, but Cambodia is forced to combat backmost to support its territory,” the erstwhile premier curate said.

Thailand’s service said Cambodian forces had fired artillery astatine a colony successful eastbound Sa Kaeo state aboriginal connected Tuesday, though nary casualties were reported, and that Cambodia attacked Thai positions with rockets and drones.

Each broadside blames the different for firing the archetypal shots.

‘No abstraction for diplomacy’

In a connection connected Tuesday morning, the Thai navy said it was taking enactment to expel Cambodian forces from its territory successful the coastal state of Trat.

The navy said Cambodian forces determination were expanding their presence, deploying snipers and dense weapons, processing fortified positions and digging trenches, successful what it viewed “as a nonstop and superior menace to Thailand’s sovereignty”, prompting the motorboat of operations to expel them.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Cambodia is “not ready” for bid negotiations.

“They accidental they’re acceptable connected 1 hand, but their actions connected the crushed are wholly successful the other direction,” helium said.

“Diplomacy volition enactment erstwhile the concern provides the abstraction for diplomacy,” helium said. “I’m atrocious to accidental that close present we don’t person that space.”

Although the ongoing hostilities and subject operations are bringing losses to some sides, Phuangketkeow added that “we privation the Cambodian broadside to amusement that they’re acceptable to halt what they’re doing – and then, of course, we tin see the imaginable for diplomacy and negotiations”.

Both sides accidental the renewed unit has forced civilians connected either broadside of the borderline to fly to shelter.

A connection from Thailand’s 2nd Army Region, situated on the border, said astir 500 impermanent shelters person been acceptable up successful 4 borderline provinces, accommodating much than 125,000 people.

For much than a century, Thailand and Cambodia person contested sovereignty astatine points on their 817km (508-mile) border, archetypal mapped successful 1907 by France erstwhile it ruled Cambodia arsenic a colony.

Simmering hostility has occasionally exploded into skirmishes, specified arsenic a weeklong artillery speech successful 2011, contempt attempts to resoluteness the quality peacefully.

A 2013 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) upheld a 1962 judgement by the aforesaid assemblage awarding portion of the onshore astir Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to Cambodia and instructing Thailand to retreat its unit stationed successful the area.

Thailand has refused to admit the ICJ’s jurisdiction successful this issue.