Thailand-Cambodia border clash live: Thai army says airstrikes launched against Cambodian targets

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Considering the recent extremely grave aggressions by Thailand, which have gravely threatened peace and stability in the region, I earnestly request you to convene an urgent meeting of the Security Council to stop Thailand’s aggression.

The letter accuses Thailand of “unprovoked, premeditated and deliberate attacks” on Cambodian positions along border areas.


Both Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for the clashes on Thursday.

Nine Thai civilians killed in conflict, army says

An armed conflict that erupted on Thursday between Cambodia and Thailand has killed nine Thai civilians across three provinces, the Thai army said, Reuters reports.

Those killed included an 8-year-old boy.

A further 14 people in Thailand have been injured as a result of the fighting, the army said in a statement.

Cambodia on Thursday accused Thailand of “unprovoked military aggression” as the two sides clashed in a border dispute, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

The Cambodian foreign ministry said it condemned “in the strongest possible terms this reckless and hostile act by Thailand”.

Below is a video showing some of the most recent developments in the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

Footage from a Thai broadcaster showed people running from their homes and hiding in a concrete bunker amid explosions and gunfire in Thailand’s Surin province bordering Cambodia.

China urged its citizens in Cambodia on Thursday to avoid areas near the frontier with Thailand, as the two countries’ militaries traded fire in an escalating conflict over a disputed border, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

The embassy wrote in an online post:

The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia advises Chinese citizens... to closely monitor the local security situation, remain vigilant, take enhanced precautions, ensure their personal safety.

What we know so far

At least two Thai civilians were killed and two others injured by shelling from Cambodia on Thursday, according to a district official, while the Thai army said it had launched airstrikes on military targets in Cambodia.

Thailand said an F-16 fighter jet had fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target. The army said several more jets were ready to be deployed.

“We have used air power against military targets as planned,” Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters.

Cambodia’s influential former premier Hun Sen – father of current prime minister Hun Manet – said that two Cambodian provinces had come under shelling from Thailand’s military.

In a statement posted online, Hun Manet said “Cambodia has always taken a stand to solve problems peacefully, but in this case we have no choice but to respond with armed forces against armed aggression.”

Here’s an overview of the conflict as it stands:

• Fatal clashes have broken out between Thai and Cambodian troops along a disputed section of their border with both countries accusing the other of provocation, after weeks of simmering tensions between the south-east-Asian neighbours. Clashes broke out near the Khmer Hindu temple, Ta Muen Thom, on Thursday morning.

• Both Thailand and Cambodia accused each other of opening fire first. The Thai military said Cambodian troops had opened fire near the temple, and deployed a surveillance drone before sending in troops with heavy weapons, including rocket launchers. Cambodia has denied the claims, with its ministry of national defence saying it was the Thai military that launched the first armed assault.

• Thailand’s military said it had closed all border checkpoints and that fighting was taking place at six different locations.

• Cambodia’s military has launched attacks targeting civilian areas in Thailand, including a hospital, causing fatalities, Thailand’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, urging its neighbour to cease actions it said were severe violations of international law. Thailand “is prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed attack and violations upon Thailand’s sovereignty in accordance with international law and principles,” the ministry said in a statement.

• Earlier on Thursday, Cambodia said it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand to their lowest level, expelling the Thai ambassador and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok. That was in response to Thailand closing its northeastern border crossings with Cambodia, withdrawing its ambassador and expelling the Cambodian ambassador on Wednesday to protest a landmine blast that wounded five Thai soldiers.

• The hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand that have continued to escalate in recent months were initially ignited after a Cambodian soldier was killed in May in an armed confrontation in an area both countries claim as their own.

What has led to today's clashes?

To recap, before today’s outbreak of fighting, Cambodia said earlier on Thursday that it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand to their lowest level, expelling the Thai ambassador and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok.

That was in response to Thailand closing its north-eastern border crossings with Cambodia, withdrawing its ambassador and expelling the Cambodian ambassador on Wednesday in protest against a landmine blast that wounded five Thai soldiers, as the AP reported.

Relations between the south-east Asian neighbours have deteriorated sharply since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in an armed confrontation in another of the several small patches of land both countries claim as their own territory.

Thailand says civilian killed in clashes

At least one Thai civilian has been killed in the rapidly intensifying Thai-Cambodian fighting, Thailand is saying.

Three other civilians – including a five-year-old boy – were seriously injured after Cambodia fired shots into a residential area in Thailand’s Surin province, said a Thai defence ministry spokesperson, Surasant Kongsiri, cited by the Associated Press.

The Thai army said it had launched airstrikes on ground targets in Cambodia. The Cambodian defence ministry said Thailand’s army used fire jets to drop bombs on a road near the ancient Preah Vihear temple.

Clashes were ongoing in at least six areas along the border, Surasant said.

Cambodia’s defence ministry has condemned what it called Thailand’s “reckless and brutal military aggression” on Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The ministry added that Thai fighter jets had been deployed and dropped two bombs on a road, as cited by Reuters and reported earlier.

Thailand 'closing border' with Cambodia

Thailand is closing all border points with Cambodia, Reuters is quoting a Thai military official as saying.

Photographs are arriving over the news wires of Thais fleeing today’s clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops.

Thai people take shelter in Surin province, north-eastern Thailand, on Thursday. Photograph: Sunny Chittawil/AP

Thais sheltering in Surin province after fleeing the fighting. Photograph: Sunny Chittawil/AP

Cambodia’s defence ministry has confirmed Thai airstrikes on the country, saying Thailand used fighter jets to drop two bombs on a road.

Reuters also quotes the Cambodian defence ministry as accusing Thailand of violating an agreement with Cambodia and opening fire on the Cambodian army.