Civilians killed as border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia escalates

Thailand's health minister is calling for an end to the violence, after a Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia early on Thursday (24 July) as tensions over a disputed border escalated into clashes killing 11 civilians and one soldier, according to Thai authorities.

Of the six F-16 fighter jets Thailand has deployed along the border, one fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target, according to the Thai army. 

Thailand’s foreign ministry said Cambodian troops fired "heavy artillery" on a Thai military base on Thursday morning and also targeted civilian areas, including a hospital, causing civilian casualties. 

"The Royal Thai Government is prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed attack and violations upon Thailand's sovereignty," the ministry said in a statement.

Thailand’s health minister said 24 civilians and seven military personnel were wounded. He also accused Cambodian forces of shelling a hospital in Surin province, calling it a war crime.

"We have used air power against military targets as planned," Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters.

Cambodia’s defence ministry said the jets dropped two bombs on a road and condemned the "reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia".

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, the current chair of ASEAN, urged calm and said he would speak to leaders of both countries to resolve the dispute peacefully. China also expressed concern and said it was ready to help mediate.

Cambodia’s foreign ministry said Thailand’s air strikes were "unprovoked" and urged its neighbour to withdraw forces and "refrain from any further provocative actions that could escalate the situation".

The clashes intensified after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia late on Wednesday (23 July) and said it would expel Cambodia’s envoy in Bangkok, after a second Thai soldier in a week lost a limb to a landmine that Bangkok alleged had been newly laid in the disputed area.

What Thailand said 

Six people were killed and 10 wounded at the site, the military said, adding another person was killed in the border province of Ubon Ratchathani.

"The Thai Army condemns Cambodia for using weapons to attack civilians in Thailand. Thailand is ready to protect sovereignty and our people from inhumane action," it said in a statement.

The Thai army said Cambodia first sent a surveillance drone and then moved troops with heavy weapons close to the disputed Ta Moan Thom temple, around 360 km from Bangkok. 

Cambodian troops opened fire, wounding two Thai soldiers, and used multiple weapons, including rocket launchers, according to the Thai military.

What Cambodia said 

A spokesperson for Cambodia’s defence ministry said Thai troops crossed into Cambodian territory without provocation and that Cambodian forces acted in self-defence.

Civilians

Tensions flared after a landmine incident on Wednesday injured a Thai soldier, who lost his right leg, near the border between Ubon Ratchathani and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Province. 

Thai residents, including children and the elderly, hid in reinforced shelters in Surin province as fighting intensified. 

"How many rounds have been fired? It's countless," an unidentified woman told the Thai Public Broadcasting Service, as gunfire and explosions could be heard in the background.

"Artillery shell fell on people's homes," Sutthirot Charoenthanasak, district chief of Kabcheing in Surin province, said. 

"Two people have died," he said, adding that about 40,000 civilians from 86 nearby villages had been evacuated to safer areas.

Video footage showed a plume of thick black smoke rising from a gas station in the neighbouring Thai Sisaket province, where six people were killed and 10 wounded, the Thai military said. Another person was killed in Ubon Ratchathani province.

How it started

Earlier this month, three Thai soldiers were injured by landmines in the same area, with one losing a foot.

Thailand accused Cambodia of placing new landmines, while Phnom Penh denied the allegation, saying Thai soldiers had strayed from agreed patrol routes into areas contaminated with mines left from decades of war.

The ruling Pheu Thai Party said the Thai Foreign Ministry lodged a formal protest, adding, "Tourists are strictly prohibited from entering these border areas."

It said Thailand had downgraded diplomatic relations and ordered the closure of all border checkpoints under the Second Army’s jurisdiction.

Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai called the situation delicate. "We have to be careful," he told reporters. "We will follow international law."

Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a Facebook post that two Cambodian provinces had come under Thai shelling.

Background

For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested various points along their 817-km (508-mile) land border. Skirmishes have broken out periodically, including a weeklong artillery exchange in 2011 that killed at least a dozen people.

Tensions were reignited in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in an exchange of gunfire, which spiraled into the current diplomatic crisis.

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