At least 11 civilians, including an eight-year-old boy, and one soldier have been killed as the long-simmering border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia erupted into direct attacks.
Thailand, on Thursday, launched airstrikes against Cambodian military targets along their long-disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple, located in the border area of northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.
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Following the attack, violence spread to at least six areas along the border, forcing Thailand’s military to shut down the crossing between the two countries.
The conflict broke out after a Thai military soldier lost his leg in a land mine explosion, which, according to the country, was planted by Cambodia.
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Cambodia, however, has denied planting new landmines, claiming instead that Thai soldiers strayed from agreed routes and set off old mines left behind from its civil war, which occurred between 1967 and 1975.
Both countries have blamed each other for the crisis, with the Cambodian Defence Ministry saying Thailand started the armed clash and that Cambodia was only acting “within the bounds of self-defence, responding to an unprovoked incursion by Thai troops that violated our territorial integrity.”
While regional leaders called for mediation, Thailand’s caretaker Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters that the fighting had to stop before any negotiations could begin, Al Jazeera reports.
He said there had been no formal declaration of war and that the clashes hadn’t spread beyond the border areas.
The Thai military said it has deployed an F-16 fighter jet.
The army said that of the six F-16s that Thailand had prepared to deploy along the disputed border, one of the fighter jets fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target.
Call for peace
As the situation continued to deteriorate, Cambodian forces launched attacks on areas in Thailand, including a hospital, resulting in casualties.
At least 40,000 civilians from 86 villages near the border have been evacuated to safer locations, a district official in Thailand’s Surin province told Reuters.
Residents fled to bomb shelters made of concrete and reinforced with sandbags and car tyres.
The fighting stems from a long-running border dispute dating back to Cambodia’s colonial era, when the French drew the boundary between the two countries, according to Al Jazeera.
The dispute has lasted for decades, turning violent more than 15 years ago. It flared up again in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a shootout further north of the current conflict zone.
This latest clash has raised concern across Asia, with several countries calling for an end to the violence.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), urged both sides to remain calm.
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He also promised to speak with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Thursday evening to push for a peaceful solution.
“The least we can expect is for them to stand down and hopefully try to enter into negotiation. Peace is the only option available,” he said.
China also weighed in. At a briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiaku said Beijing was deeply concerned about the situation and urged both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.
He added that China was ready to play a constructive role in easing tensions.
Meanwhile, the Thai government has shut down schools in some regions, and Cambodia has evacuated students and teachers from areas affected by the fighting.
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