Thailand launched air strikes along its disputed border with Cambodia on Monday after fresh fighting erupted before dawn on Monday, raising fears of the collapse of a peace plan brokered just months ago by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Both sides accused the other of breaching the ceasefire in clashes that broke out in the early hours along sections of the frontier, following weeks of rising tension and Thailand’s halt to parts of the truce last month.
The Royal Thai Air Force said it targeted only military infrastructure, including weapons depots, command centres and logistical supply routes it assessed as direct threats.
Cambodia, however, said Thai forces launched dawn attacks on its positions and denied Thailand’s claim that it had initiated the violence. Cambodia’s defence ministry said its troops had not retaliated and accused Thailand of spreading false information.
At least one Thai soldier was killed and at least seven wounded in clashes around two areas in Thailand’s easternmost province of Ubon Ratchathani, the Thai military said. It said its forces came under Cambodian fire before aircraft were deployed.
A Thai military official said the air strikes were in retaliation for an earlier Cambodian artillery and mortar attack that hit a Thai base near the Chong An Ma Pass.
Cambodia’s army said Thai forces had carried out “provocative actions for many days” before launching what it described as a direct assault on its positions.
Thailand said around 70% of civilians in some border towns had been evacuated. More than 385,000 people across four border districts were being moved, with more than 35,000 already in temporary shelters. One civilian death was reported during the evacuation due to a pre-existing medical condition.
The latest fighting revives a conflict that flared into a five-day war in July, killing dozens of people and displacing about 300,000 civilians on both sides. The neighbours exchanged rockets and heavy artillery fire in their most intense clashes in years.
A ceasefire was brokered on 28 July after U.S. President Donald Trump held calls with the leaders of both countries. An expanded ceasefire declaration was later signed in Kuala Lumpur in October in a ceremony witnessed by President Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Trump at the time described the agreement as a major diplomatic breakthrough. However, within weeks, the ceasefire began to unravel.
Thailand said it suspended implementation of the agreement after a landmine explosion at the border severely injured several Thai soldiers. Since then, tensions have steadily escalated.
Thailand and Cambodia have disputed sovereignty at several undemarcated points along their 817-kilometre land border for more than a century. The boundary was first mapped in 1907 when Cambodia was under French colonial rule.
The dispute has repeatedly erupted into violence, including a week-long artillery exchange in 2011. Despite repeated diplomatic efforts to settle overlapping claims, the frontier remains one of Southeast Asia’s most volatile flashpoints.
The widening war between Iran, U.S. and Israel is leaving civilians and soldiers caught in its wake. Thousands are stranded across the Gulf, flight...
The U.S. military's Central Command said on Tuesday that Iran has launched over 500 ballistic missiles and ...
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the country's gas exports to Europe and rene...
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a full U.S. trade embargo on Spain on Tuesday after the European ...
An Israeli strike on a four-storey residential building has killed at least four people and wounded six others ...
The U.S. military's Central Command said on Tuesday that Iran has launched over 500 ballistic missiles and over 2,000 drones in its retaliatory attacks throughout the Middle East so far.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a full U.S. trade embargo on Spain on Tuesday after the European and NATO ally refused to let the U.S. military use its bases for missions linked to strikes on Iran.
An Israeli strike on a four-storey residential building has killed at least four people and wounded six others in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek with rescue teams working to pull families from beneath the rubble, state news agency NNA said on Wednesday.
Kazakhstan has vowed to speed up its investigation into the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) crash near Aktau, as mounting diplomatic pressure and geopolitical tensions push the disaster further into the international spotlight.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its Ras Tanura refinery on Monday following an Iranian drone strike, an industry source told Reuters as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian targets over the weekend.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military has enough stockpiled weapons to fight wars "forever"; in a social media post late on Monday. The remarks came hours before conflict in Iran and the Middle East entered its fourth day.
Türkiye raised its security level for Turkish-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz to Level 3 on Sunday (2 March). The development follows Iranian restrictions on shipping after U.S. and Israeli strikes and confirmation of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov following recent military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel on targets in Iran, as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise.
Strikes across the Middle East are intensifying, fuelling travel disruption, driving up global energy prices and forcing diplomatic missions to shut their doors.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and is capable of sustaining military action indefinitely, as the conflict with Iran entered its fourth day.
The United Nations has called for an investigation into a deadly attack on a girls’ primary school in Iran, which Iranian officials say has killed more than 100 children. The U.S. has said its forces “would not” deliberately target a school.
U.S. first lady, Melania Trump chaired a UN Security Council meeting on children and education in conflict on Monday (2 March), a move criticised by Iran as hypocritical following U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered a UN warning about risks to children.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 3rd of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment