Thailand’s military has launched air attacks along its disputed border with Cambodia as the Southeast Asian neighbours traded blame for clashes that left at least one Thai soldier dead.
In a statement on Monday, a spokesman for the Thai military, Major-General Winthai Suvari, said Thailand deployed the aircraft to “suppress” Cambodian attacks after the death of the Thai soldier in the Ubon Ratchathani province.
At least four others were also wounded in the incident, he said.
The Thai statement said the Cambodian soldiers had “fired small arms and curved weapons” from approximately 5:05am (22:00 GMT on Sunday), with reports that one of its soldiers had been killed received at around 7am local time (00:00 GMT)
Cambodia, however, disputed the Thai account.
The Cambodian military, in a statement on Facebook, said it was the Thai forces who had launched the first attack at 5am local time on Monday.
It added that the clashes followed “numerous provocative actions for many days” by Thai forces.
The attacks were the latest flare-up of violence between the neighbours after a ceasefire that ended five days of deadly clashes in July. At least 48 people were killed during the fighting in July, while an estimated 300,000 people were displaced temporarily.
The ceasefire was brokered by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and United States President Trump, who also witnessed the signing of an expanded peace agreement between the two countries in Kuala Lumpur in October.
Tensions have continued to flare, however.
Following a landmine blast last month that maimed one of its soldiers, Thailand said it was halting the implementation of the ceasefire pact with Cambodia. Phnom Penh denied responsibility for the landmine explosion, saying the device was a remnant from past conflicts.
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Cambodia said on Monday that it did not want to be drawn back into direct conflict.
“Standing on the spirit of respecting all previous agreements and resolving conflicts peacefully according to international law, Cambodia did not retaliate at all during the two assaults and continues to monitor the situation vigilantly and with utmost caution,” the military said.
Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen also called for frontline Cambodian forces to be patient, accusing Thai forces of trying to “draw us into a fight to destroy the ceasefire and the Cambodia-Thailand peace declaration”.
He also urged athletes participating in the South East Asia Games, which are due to begin in Thailand on Tuesday, to “participate in the competition as normal”.
The clashes have meanwhile resulted in renewed displacement in both countries.
Thailand’s Second Army Region said in a statement that around 35,000 people have been evacuated from areas along the border, while a spokesman for Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey provincial administration said a “number of villagers who live near the border are fleeing to safety”.
The Cambodian province also suspended school on Monday over the fighting.
Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at undemarcated points along their 817-km (508-mile) land border, first mapped in 1907 by France when it ruled Cambodia as a colony.
Simmering tension has occasionally exploded into skirmishes, such as a weeklong artillery exchange in 2011, despite attempts to peacefully resolve overlapping claims.
