He dates back to the early twentieth century, has exploded this Thursday in a new confrontation. After weeks of growing tension between the two nations of Southeast Asia, the Thai Air Forces have bombarded Cambodian military positions after accusing Phnom Penh to open fire with heavy artillery. The Thai Ministry of Health has confirmed the death of a soldier and at least 11 civilians, in addition to 14 injured. This is the most serious episode in more than a decade and the first time that the conflict leads to the use of Air Force since 2011. The clash has further tensioned bilateral relations already deteriorated, with the mutual withdrawal of ambassadors and the freezing of diplomatic channels.
The epicenter of the conflict is located in the area, an enclave located about 360 kilometers northeast of the capital of Thailand and whose sovereignty continues in dispute.
Information about the burst of violence from the ground is scarce and comes from the governments of the two countries involved, so it is difficult to verify. Bangkok has confirmed the deployment of six F-16 fighters and that one of them launched an attack against “planned military objectives” in Cambodian territory.
According to the version of the Thai military authorities, that offensive occurred after the Cambodian army deployed drones to monitor the Thai troops parked near the sanctuary. Minutes later, Cambodos armed with RPG launchers concentrated in the area. A spokesman for the Thai National Security Council has assured that their country’s soldiers tried to talk with their opponents, without success, and that the Cambodian troops opened fire to 08.20 (03.20 in Spanish peninsular time), which forced the Thai forces to respond.
Phnom Penh, however, denies having initiated hostilities and the Camboyano Ministry of Defense argues that it was the Thai soldiers who began the conflict around 06.30 (local time). They did so advancing towards the Jemer temple and placing a thorn wire at its base, thus violating a previous agreement. Cambodia insists that it has been the Thai military who deployed a drone shortly after 07.00 and those who fired “in the air” towards 08.30.
Sixteen minutes later, Thai troops opened “preventive” fire against Cambodian soldiers, which forced them to exercise their right to self -defense, according to the spokeswoman of the Mally Socheta Ministry. Socheata has also accused Thailand to deploy an excessive number of troops, use heavy weapons and launch air attacks against Cambodian territory.
“The position of wanting to solve the problems by the peaceful route. But, in this case, we have no other option to answer by the armed force to a military aggression,” Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Facebook. According to the Cambodian government, the Thai army has bombarded two provinces of the country.
After the initial exchange of accusations, the two countries have reinforced their military presence in the most tense points of the 817 kilometers that separates them. The fighting has spread to six border areas and Bangkok has ordered the closure of all border crossings and announced that it is prepared to “intensify its self -defense measures” if the attacks are repeated. Thailand asserts that the neighboring army has launched two BM-21 rockets against a residential area of the Thai province of Surin, an attack that has killed two civilians (including an eight-year-old boy) and has forced to evacuate some 40,000 neighbors of 86 villages. There is also a deceased in the province of Ubon Ratchathani and eight in Srisket’s, including a 15 -year -old teenager and a military.
Origen colonial
The border dispute has its roots in the colonial era. When Cambodia obtained independence in 1953, the French occupation left without precisely delimiting several sections of the current dividing line. PHNOM Penh rejects the inherited route and has repeatedly asked the United Nations International Court of Justice that is pronounced in this regard.
Although the Court based in The Hague granted in 1962 to Cambodia the sovereignty of the Hindu Temple of Preah Vihear (located further north of the current voltage focus), the tensions were fueled in 2008, when Phnom Penh tried to register the enclave as a World Heritage. Since then, armed clashes have been sporadic but recurring, and have left several dozen dead on both sides. Until now, the most serious hostilities occurred in 2011 after a week of intense fighting that caused at least 17 dead and thousands of displaced.
The current violence rebound occurs after weeks of growing friction. In mid -May, a Cambodian soldier died in a shooting in the area of the sanctuary of Ta Muen Thom (where the skirmishes began this Thursday). Since then, both nations have reinforced their military presence and tax commercial restrictions.
An attempt to mediation by the Thai Prime Minister, Paetongtran Shinawatra, caused a political storm that has temporarily separated it from the position. The leader had a telephone conversation with former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen (father of the current leader) who leaked to the press and was interpreted by his rivals as an undue interference in foreign policy. Shortly after, the Thai Constitutional Court decreed its precautionary suspension.
The last trigger occurred on Wednesday, after the explosion of a land mine that seriously wounded five Thai soldiers. Thailand accuses Cambodia of having placed the artifacts in the disputed area, while Phnom Penh says they are old mines, remnants of the civil war.
Diplomacy has been dragged by that accident, the second one in the period of a week. Thailand announced on the eve the expulsion of the Cambodian ambassador to Bangkok and Phnom Penh has done the same day with the Thai representative in Cambodia. Thailand’s interim prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, has acknowledged that the border situation is “delicate” and stressed that his government will act “cautiously” and the countries of the region have requested an immediate descale.
