Death toll in Thai-Cambodia clashes rises to 16 as 120,000 flee border area

The decease toll from clashes betwixt Thai and Cambodian troops has risen to 15 successful Thailand and 1 successful Cambodia, according to authorities, arsenic much than 120,000 radical surviving on some sides of the borderline separating the 2 countries fly the ongoing fighting.

Deadly warring continued for a 2nd time connected Friday arsenic some countries traded dense artillery and rocket fire, the bloodiest subject confrontation betwixt the 2 Southeast Asian neighbours successful much than a decade.

“The concern has intensified and could escalate into a authorities of war”,  Acting Thai PM Phumtham Wechayachai ominously told reporters connected Friday. For now, the clashes person progressive dense weapons, helium added.

The ongoing clashes person taken spot successful 12 locations on the disputed border, up from six the time before, a Thai subject authoritative said connected Friday, indicating a widening of the fighting. Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a subject spokesperson, told a quality league that Cambodia had continued to usage dense weapons.

“Thai forces person responded with due supporting occurrence successful accordance with the tactical situation,” the Thai subject said successful an earlier statement.

Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health reported that astatine slightest 14 civilians and 1 worker were killed successful Thailand erstwhile warring broke retired connected Thursday, and a section provincial authoritative successful Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey borderline state told the Reuters quality bureau that 1 idiosyncratic was killed and 5 wounded successful Thai attacks.

More than 30 Thai civilians and 15 soldiers were besides injured, according to Thailand’s Health Ministry, portion immoderate 100,672 radical from 4 Thai provinces bordering Cambodia person been moved to shelters, Thailand’s Ministry of Interior was quoted by AFP quality bureau arsenic saying.

Arsit Sampantharat, the Thai Interior Ministry’s imperishable secretary, was quoted by the country’s Channel 3 tv transmission arsenic saying much than fractional of those evacuated were from Surin province, portion the remainder were from the provinces of Sisaket, Buriram and Ubon Ratchathani.

Quoting officials successful Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province, the Khmer Times quality organisation said astir 20,000 residents person evacuated from the country’s bluish borderline with Thailand.

Thailand has opened much than 300 evacuation centres, according to officials.

Thai residents who fled homes pursuing clashes betwixt Thai and Cambodian soldiers remainder astatine an evacuation halfway successful Surin province, Thailand, Friday, July 25, 2025 [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

Reporting from Surin province, adjacent the Cambodian border, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said the authorities described the frontier arsenic “very agelong and porous”, complicating efforts to way the question of displaced people. “It is precise hard to spot however galore radical are present successful the evacuation centre… due to the fact that determination are radical arriving each the time,” helium said.

Thai authorities accidental they are gathering the contiguous needs of those seeking refuge, with food, h2o and aesculapian attraction provided astatine the impermanent shelters.

However, section accounts overgarment a grim picture. “Some of the older radical that we person talked to said what they person seen successful the past 48 hours, that the warring they’ve seen has been the fiercest successful this disputed country since the precocious 1970s, erstwhile the Khmer Rouge had implicit power of the different broadside of the border,” Cheng reported.

The violence, centred astir a contested conception of the Thai-Cambodian border, has prompted calls for calm from determination actors. “People are trying to speech down to some sides, urging leaders to de-escalate,” Cheng added.

Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s Prime Minister from 2001-2006, said that “many countries are acrophobic astir the struggle betwixt Thailand and Cambodia, offering to assistance mediate”.

“I thanked everyone but said I’d similar to inquire for immoderate time. Because we astir apt request to fto the Thai subject bash their work to thatch Hun Sen a acquisition astir his cunning ways first,” Thaksin wrote successful a station connected X, referring to Cambodia’s inactive influential long-ruling erstwhile premier minister.

Thaksin and Hun Sen enjoyed a more-than 3 decennary narration initially characterised by suspicion, but which evolved into a fraternal bond.

UN to clasp an exigency meeting

Shelling from Thailand was besides reported earlier dawn connected Friday, the Khmer Times quoted the Cambodian subject arsenic saying.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts claimed that Thailand’s strikes had caused “substantial damage” to the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, according to The Phnom Penh Post.

Diplomatic sources told the AFP quality bureau that the United Nations Security Council volition clasp an exigency gathering connected Friday to sermon the borderline fighting.

On Thursday, Thailand said it scrambled an F-16 combatant pitchy to weaponry targets successful Cambodia, portion Cambodian forces launched long-range rockets towards civilian areas on the Thai border, Thailand’s military said.

Both countries person blamed each different for starting the clashes successful a disputed country of the border, which rapidly escalated from tiny arms occurrence to dense shelling.

The United States, a longtime pact state of Thailand, has called for an contiguous extremity to the hostilities.

China, a adjacent state of Cambodia, said it was profoundly acrophobic astir the ongoing struggle and hoped that some countries “will decently lick their quality done dialog and consultation”.

The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority has cited a Cambodian subject tract study from aboriginal Friday saying clump munitions were utilized doubly by Thailand successful the abstraction of 90 minutes successful Preah Vihear, a borderline province.

The connection expressed alarm implicit what it called a superior usurpation of humanitarian norms.

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected the claims made by Cambodia.