Brutugon dujumro / epa
Police are ordering the evacuation of the province of Surin, Thailand, which was the scene of clashes with Cambodia
After several weeks of high voltage due to a long border dispute, the Thailand and Cambodia armed forces began to exchange armed attacks on Thursday. There are 12 dead.
The armies of Thailand and Cambodia clashed in a disputed border zone, according to reports on both sides, which are mutually accused of starting the conflict after weeks of tension.
Thailand has completely closed the land border with Cambodia after clashes that have caused so far 12 Dead Confirmed in Thailand, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
The Thai army stated that the forces of Phnom Penh opened fire in a border zonein Surin province, and six Cambodian soldiers were at the door of a fully armed Thai operations base, including [com] Forelands ”.
However, the president of the Senate Cambodian and former leader Hun Sen accused the Thai forces of starting the attack. “The Cambodian Army has no choice but retaliate and counter“Hun Sen wrote in a publication on the social network Facebook.
“The competent Thai army agencies are closely monitoring the situation,” said the Bangkok forces, claiming to have Heard “The Sound of a Cambodian Unmanned Air Vehicle” to fly over the place.
The interim prime minister of Thailand, Phumtham Wechayachai, told reporters having received a “report, shortly after 08:00 [02:00 em Lisboa] of which shots were fired. ”“We are investigating the details“He continued.
“The situation requires extreme caution and must be treated according to international law. I do not want to go into detail at this time and I ask the media that report with cautionbecause emergencies can arise at any time, ”added Wechayachai.
Thai military leaders “are meeting” and the National Security Council was called, according to the interim leader, noting, however, that he “did not become a total confrontationAnd that there is no formal war statement.
Thailand also confirmed the launch of air strikes against two military targets in Cambodia. “The F-16 launched attacks! Cambodian military posts of the 8th and 9th divisions [comandos das forças especiais] They were destroyed, ”said the Division Second Region of the Thai Army, highlighted in the Northeast, in a publication on the Facebook social network.
The Cambodian Ministry of Defense condemned the “brutal military aggression” of Thailand He added that Phnom Penh “has no choice but to use sovereign and territorial law to defend himself from the invasion of the Thai army.”
However, the Thailand embassy in Cambodia asked the Thai citizens that abandon the country Given the possibility of the attacks “to continue and expand”.
The Thai army also accuses the forces of Phnom Penh to open fire in a border zone of Surin Province and advances that six Cambodian soldiers were at the door of a base of operations Thai “totally armed, including [com] Spells.
“A Cambodian artillery projectile hit the home of a Thai civilian, killing a personseriously injuring a five -year -old child and hurting two others, ”the same source said in a statement.
Longtime conflict
The tension between the armies of neighboring nations happens a day after a Thai Soldier having lost his leg Right by setting a land mine in border territory in Ubon Ratchathani.
This is the second incident of this month, leading Thailand to Remove the ambassador in Cambodia and expelling the Cambodian ambassador in Bangkok.
The Thai authorities hold Cambodia responsible for the installation of land mines in Thai territory, which, according to Bangkok, is a VIOLATION OF THE OTAVA CONVENTIONinternational agreement that prohibits the use, storage, production and transfer of antiperson terrestrial mines, according to public broadcaster Thai PBS.
Cambodia and Thailand have been in conflict for a long time on more than 800 kilometerslargely defined by agreements celebrated during the French occupation of the so -called Indochina, between the late nineteenth and mid -twentieth century.
In 2011, clashes around the Preah Vihear temple, classified as a world heritage by the UN organization for education, science and culture (UNESCO) and claimed by both countries, caused at least 28 Dead and tens of thousands of displaced people.
Although in 2013, the International Court of Justice (TIJ), the UN’s main judicial body, has attributed to Cambodia the contested zone below the temple, the layout of other zones continues to oppose Bangkok and Phnom Penh.
A Territorial dispute He has intensified since the end of Mayafter the death of a Cambodian soldier in a gunfire between the two armies. From this incident, for which the two blame themselves, Thailand and Cambodia have intensified the sending of troops to areas that both claim.
While Bangkok defends a bilateral solution, Phnom Penh referred the dispute to the International Court of Justice in June.
