Thai police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Cambodian civilians in a disputed border area on Wednesday, authorities in both countries said. It's the most significant escalation since they declared a ceasefire to end a deadly five-day conflict in July.
The clash took place at a disputed frontier settlement, which Thailand says is part of its Ban Nong Ya Kaew village in Sa Kaeo province, but Cambodia says is part of Prey Chan village in Bantheay Meanchey province.
Cambodia's information minister Neth Pheaktra accused Thai officials of encroaching across the border, and said they used "tear gas, rubber bullets and noise-making devices against Cambodian civilians."
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has sent out letters to world leaders, seeking support from the international community and the regional bloc ASEAN to stop what he described as Thailand's "unilateral actions that risk escalating tensions and widening the conflict", a Cambodia government statement said.
The Thai army said in a statement that Thailand's use of force was a response to provocation from some 200 Cambodian protesters, some of whom dismantled Thai defensive barriers, threw sticks and stones and fired slingshots at Thai officials, causing injuries.
The actions of the riot police were aimed at preventing the situation from escalating into civil disorder, it added.
The U.S. government said it was aware of the situation and urged the governments of both Cambodia and Thailand to de-escalate tensions.
A U.S. State Department spokesman called on the two sides to quickly finalise the "terms of reference" to establish a longer-term observer mission comprised of ASEAN member states on both sides of the border.
Thai authorities erected barbed wire fences in the area last month and for weeks there have been protests by civilians from both sides of the border.
Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817 km (508 miles) land border, which was first mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony.
Tensions over disputed areas spiraled into a border conflict in July, when the fiercest fighting between the neighbours in decades killed at least 48 people and temporarily displaced hundreds of thousands.
The fighting ended after both countries agreed a ceasefire brokered in Malaysia on 28 July, and the border has largely remained calm since.
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Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 21st of July, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 22nd of July, covering the latest developments you need to know.
President Donald Trump said the United States will target Iran’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain site “pretty soon” as he meets with Lebanese president Michel Aoun. Meanwhile, U.S. forces carried out a 10th consecutive night of strikes on Iran while Tehran continues to target Gulf countries.
Overnight U.S. strikes caused blackouts in southwestern Iran and hit the northwestern city of Tabriz for the first time. Separately, a U.S. soldier died in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone.
The United States has bombed Iran for an 11th consecutive night as the Pentagon says the war’s cost reach $37.5 billion. President Donald Trump threatens a heavy strike on the suspected Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site. Tehran warns that any attack could trigger a wider regional escalation.
The building where Adolf Hitler was born, near Austria's border with Germany, officially began a new life as a police station on Wednesday. Austria's government hopes the conversion will prevent it from becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis.
Daniel Siad, a modelling scout whose name appeared in documents linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been found dead at his home near Paris, French prosecutors said. He was 69.
Ukraine's new commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, takes charge at a pivotal stage of the war with Russia, facing mounting challenges including troop shortages, battlefield reform and the rapid evolution of drone warfare.
ASEAN foreign ministers opened the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Manila on 21 July, launching four days of talks that run until 24 July. The agenda includes South China Sea tensions, Myanmar’s conflict and growing U.S.-China rivalry.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand has renewed calls for an immediate de-escalation and permanent ceasefire in the Middle East while she warned that the humanitarian situation had become "quite grave". Anand also raised concern over tensions in the South China Sea.
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