Over the past week, more than two dozen people on both sides have been reported killed, while over half a million have been displaced. The dispute centres on longstanding claims over frontier land, some containing centuries-old temple ruins
A security volunteer stands near a bunker in the evacuation zone during the conflict in the Thai province of Buriram, 10 kilometres away from the border with Cambodia, on Saturday. PIC/AFP
Thailand’s Government on Sunday confirmed that a rocket attack from Cambodia killed a 63-year-old villager, marking the first civilian fatality in a week of renewed fighting along the two countries’ border, news agency AP reported.
Both the countries acknowledged that large-scale clashes, triggered by a December 7 skirmish that wounded two Thai soldiers, continued on Sunday.
The dispute centres on longstanding claims over frontier land, some containing centuries-old temple ruins, AP reported.
Over the past week, more than two dozen people on both sides have been reported killed, while over half a million have been displaced.
Reporters arriving at the scene in Sisaket Province’s Kantharalak District witnessed the victim, identified as Don Patchapan, being taken away on a stretcher. A nearby house was ablaze, with villagers attempting to extinguish the fire using buckets of water. Shrapnel from the rocket was embedded in the road nearby, AP reported.
The Thai Army said Patchapan was killed in a residential area near a school.
Thai government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat condemned Cambodia for firing into civilian areas, calling the act “cruel and inhumane”.
Cambodia has deployed truck-mounted BM-21 rocket launchers, capable of firing up to 40 rockets at a time over 30-40 km, though they lack precise targeting. Most rockets have landed in evacuated areas, but Thai authorities say thousands have been launched nearly daily.
Thailand has responded with airstrikes, while Cambodia reported continued bombing on Sunday. Both sides have also used drones for surveillance and bomb delivery. Thai military officials confirmed 15 of their soldiers have died and estimated at least 221 Cambodian military fatalities. Cambodia has rejected these figures, reporting at least 11 civilian deaths and more than 60 injuries.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet posted on social media that he was proud of the nation’s strength amid “aggression from neighbouring countries.”
The renewed fighting has disrupted a ceasefire brokered in July by Malaysia, and promoted by US President Donald Trump, who had threatened to withhold trade privileges unless both sides agreed. A new ceasefire had been announced last Friday at Trump’s urging, but Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied committing to it, and Cambodia said it was acting in self-defense.
The conflict has also spread to a new front in the Gulf of Thailand, where a Thai Navy warship exchanged fire with Cambodian forces in Koh Kong province, with both sides blaming the other for initiating the confrontation.
(With AP inputs)
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
