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.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over t...
One person has been killed and six others injured after an explosion at a petroleum storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam, prompting an investi...
The suspension of two major grain terminals in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk could increase pressure on Kazakhstan’s agricult...
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Friday as ash from Mount Etna continues to disrupt air travel, following hundreds of cancellations and diversions over the past week.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
Russia has accused Ukraine of threatening global grain supplies after recent strikes on Black Sea agricultural infrastructure, while Moscow carried out a new overnight attack on Ukraine’s major Danube port of Izmail.
One person has been killed and six others injured after an explosion at a petroleum storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam, prompting an investigation into the cause.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday for talks focused on Gaza, Palestinian statehood and regional security.
Taiwan staged military defence drills on Wednesday as China concluded joint naval exercises with Indonesia in waters east of the island.
Washington’s counter-narcotics push is expanding as Colombia’s new conservative government backs deeper security cooperation.
Meta said it had removed more than 750,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts suspected of belonging to Australians under 16, as the country’s internet regulator weighs enforcement action over its teen social media ban.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment