Those have intensified since early this Friday, on the second consecutive day of armed hostilities. The acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, has warned that the clashes “could lead to a war” because it is a confrontation “in which heavy weapons intervene.” Thai authorities have raised 20 dead in their territory and more than 100,000 people have been evacuated in four provinces in the east of the country. Phnom Penh, meanwhile, has not confirmed data, but local reports cited by international agencies ensure that more than 20,000 people have had to be displaced from several northern provinces. The exchange of fire marks the worst military escalation between the two countries in more than a decade and since the colonial era.
According to a Thai military officer quoted by Reuters, Friday’s fighting have extended 12 points from the border, twice as much in the previous day. They have concentrated on the border area of the Thai provinces of Surin and Ubon Ratchathani, where the army has denounced prolonged attacks with heavy artillery and Russian BM-21 stuffing systems of Russian manufacturing from the Cambodian side. According to a statement from the military authorities, the Thai forces “have responded with adequate shots to the tactical situation, in proportion to the attack received.”
Wechayachai has expressed to journalists in Bangkok that the situation “has climbed.” In the beginning, he had said that the clashes “for the moment, remain limited.” The Thai leader has first denounced local media attacks on civil facilities and has reiterated that hostilities opened them Cambodia, which accuses Bangkok of starting the clash.
“The exchange of fire continues, the tension remains high,” said Met Measpheakdey, spokesman for the Cambodian province of Oddar Meanchey, bordering the Thai Buriram, Surin and if Sa Ket. At least one person has died and five have been injured on the Cambodian side, according to the spokesman. Images spread from the area show families fleeing at night, carrying the essential in vans and spending the night under canvas.
Phnom Penh says he has only acted in legitimate defense against an “unprovoked aggression” and accuses Thailand of violating his territorial integrity. Cambodia affirms that a group of Thai soldiers began the conflict on Thursday, by violating a previous agreement that forbade them to move towards it. Bangkok, however, said he launched an attack on “planned military objectives” in Camboyano territory after the Cambodian army displayed drones to monitor the Thai troops and open fire against them.
In a letter sent to the United Nations Security Council – which is scheduled to meet this Friday to address the matter -, the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Manet, has urged the Council to intervene to “stop the Thai aggression.”
Artillery fire
The clashes occurred on the eve quickly derived from exchanges with light weapons to bombing with heavy artillery in six points of the border, which consists of 817 kilometers in length. This is the most serious episode between the two countries in 13 years.
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 and, since then, both nations have reinforced their military presence and tax mutual commercial restrictions.
The current climb rushed after Thailand retired on Wednesday to his ambassador to Phnom Penh and expelled the Cambodian representative in Bangkok, in response to the second explosion in a week of a terrestrial mine, which caused the amputation of a leg of a Thai soldier. Thailand blames the Cambodian troops of having placed the artifacts recently in areas outside the conflict, something that Cambodia has described as “unfounded accusation.”
The border between Thailand and Cambodia has been source of intermittent tensions for decades. Although both countries share cultural and economic ties, they drag territorial disputes inherited from the colonial period (Cambodia obtained the independence of France in 1953) that they have never finished resolving. The lack of a clear delimitation in some sections has caused numerous incidents, both military and diplomats. The last great shock occurred in 2011, when several days of fighting caused 17 dead and forced to evacuate thousands of people.
The international community has already reacted to the new clashes. The United States, a traditional ally of Thailand, has requested the “immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of the civil population and a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” according to a statement from the State Department. China, who maintains close commercial and strategic links with both nations, has expressed his “deep concern” and has urged the parties to solve their differences “through dialogue and consultation.” The European Union has also called for calm and respect for international law.
