The combat spread to six areas along the border, resulting in a death and three injured to date
Thai authorities announced the total closure of all terrestrial border passages with Cambodia, after clashes between the two armies in various areas that separate these neighboring countries.
The level of security in the border passages was high for the 4-the maximum-which constitutes a complete closure, said at a press conference the spokesman for the Thai center that monitors the situation on the border with Cambodia, Admiral Surasant KongSiri.
“Given the current situation, Thailand must close barriers on border passages to protect our sovereignty, territorial integrity and the safety of people in border zones,” said the Center’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Maratee Nalita.
Since late June, Thailand has implemented access restrictions at all border posts over the more than 800 kilometers of border that shares with Cambodia, allowing entry only for humanitarian, health or education reasons.
The total closure comes after today’s clashes between Thai and Cambodian armies in a disputed border zone, according to both sides, who mutually accuse themselves to start the conflict after weeks of tension.
The fighting spread to six areas along the border, resulting in a death and three injured to date, Surasant said.
Thailand said it had launched air strikes against two military targets in Cambodia, while Cambodian soldiers fired several rockets against Thai territory.
However, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
“Considering Thailand’s extremely serious aggressions, which have severely threatened peace and stability in the region, I sincerely ask you to call an emergency meeting of the Security Council to end Thailand’s aggression,” Hun Manet wrote in a letter addressed to Security Council President Asim Iftikhar Ahmad.
The longstanding conflict between the two countries rekindled on May 28, after a confrontation between the two armies around an unrestricted border zone claimed by the two nations, which resulted in the death of a Cambodian soldier.
The Thailand Embassy in Cambodia today asked Thai citizens to abandon the neighboring country, after the clashes and given the possibility of the attacks “continuing and spreading.”
Territorial tension has been usually approached diplomatically, although between 2008 and 2011, about 30 people died in military clashes between the two countries in a territory adjacent to the Hindu Temple of Preah Vihear.
