Fears of a wider confrontation increased as border violence between Thailand and Cambodia reached its second day on Friday, prompting thousands of civilians to seek shelter.
While Malaysia, the chief of a regional bloc comprising both nations, called for an end to hostilities and offered to mediate, the U.N. Security Council is set to conduct an emergency meeting on the crisis later Friday in New York.
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More than 4,000 people have been evacuated from locations close to the border in Cambodia, while the Health Ministry said on Friday that over 58,000 people have fled from villages to makeshift shelters in four impacted Thai border districts.
At least 14 people have died in Thailand as a result of the violence, while Cambodia acknowledged its first death on Friday.
Tensions over a disputed border region following Wednesday’s attack that injured five Thai soldiers.
Conflicts erupt throughout border regions.
The Thai military reported fighting early Friday in several locations, including the vicinity of the historic Ta Muen Thom temple, Phanom Dong Rak in Surin province, and along the border at Chong Bok and Phu Makhuea in Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani district. Early in the morning, Associated Press reporters in the vicinity of the border could hear artillery.
According to the Thai army, Cambodian forces utilized Russian-made BM-21 rocket launchers and heavy artillery, which prompted what Thai officials said was proper supporting fire.
According to Thailand, 15 soldiers and 30 civilians were injured, while one soldier and 13 civilians—including children—were killed.
Gen. Khov Ly, Cambodia’s top officer in the province of Oddar Meanchey, reported that a guy died instantaneously on Thursday after a Thai rocket struck a Buddhist pagoda where he was hiding. The fighting there on Thursday also injured at least four people.
On Friday, Thailand’s army disputed that it had targeted civilian locations in Cambodia and charged that the country was deploying people shields by placing its weaponry close to residential areas.
Villages close to the border are evacuated by thousands.
Villagers on both sides have been caught in the crossfire as the conflict has gotten more intense, forcing many to evacuate.
About 80 kilometers from the border, in Surin, Thailand, 600 people sought refuge in a university gymnasium. Evacuees waited in line for food and beverages while sitting in groups on mats and blankets.
Four cats were in two fabric cages with seamstress Pornpan Sooksai. She claimed that when shelling started on Thursday, she was washing clothes at her house close to the Ta Muen Thom shrine.
Boom, boom, boom, I heard. We raced and moved our belongings to the car because we had already set up the cages, clothes, and everything else. She said, “I was scared and frightened.”
Another evacuee, Rattana Meeying, claimed she had also witnessed the 2011 hostilities between the two nations but characterized this flare-up as more severe.
“Young people and elderly people were suddenly affected,” she said. I had no idea it would be so brutal.
Periodic explosions were heard Friday at the neighboring Phanom Dong Rak hospital, and a military convoy carrying three injured Thai troops, including one who had both legs amputated, arrived. Shelling on Thursday damaged the top of one of the hospital’s buildings and broke windows in another.
Following an evacuation order on Friday, more residents in the nearby province of Sisaket packed up their possessions and fled their houses in a convoy of vehicles, trucks, and motorcycles.
In Cambodia, communities on the boundaries of the province of Oddar Meanchey were mostly abandoned. Dogs and hens roamed outside, and houses stood shuttered.
In order to protect themselves from shelling, several peasants previously excavated trenches to construct temporary underground bunkers and covered them with zinc sheets, tarps, and wood. While some males refused to leave, families with children were observed putting their things on homemade tractors in preparation for evacuation.
A secluded Buddhist temple encircled by rice fields has received several hundred displaced Cambodian peasants. Children frolic around, some cradle babies, and women sleep in hammocks. Under the trees, improvised plastic tents are being erected.
In order for me to go back to my hometown and work on the farm, Veng Chin, 74, begged both governments to engage in settlement talks.
Calm is demanded by the ASEAN Chair
The battle is an uncommon example of armed fighting between members of the group, although Thailand and Cambodia had previously clashed across the border and occasionally engaged in combat with Myanmar, a neighbor to the west.
Concern was voiced by Malaysia, the current ASEAN chair.
According to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, he met with Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodian leader Hun Manet on Thursday and asked them to create an environment conducive to diplomatic talks and a peaceful conclusion. He stated that Malaysia is prepared to help in negotiations.
According to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also urged both nations to exercise caution and to settle their differences via negotiation.
A persistent border issue
Tensions along the two countries’ borders are not new. Their 800-kilometer (500-mile) border has been contested for many years, and previous conflicts have usually been small-scale and short. Twenty people died in the most recent big flare-up in 2011.
When a Cambodian soldier was murdered in a clash in May, the current tensions began. Although the two nations later claimed to have reached an agreement to defuse the issue, tensions remained high as they both carried out or threatened to impose trade and travel restrictions.
However, on Wednesday, a land mine injured five Thai soldiers, making matters worse. As a result, Bangkok expelled Cambodia’s ambassador to Thailand and withdrew its own. Additionally, Thailand closed all of Cambodia and advised its nationals to evacuate. All seven Thai airlines, according to officials, were willing to assist with the evacuation of citizens.
In retaliation, Cambodia recalled all of its employees from its embassy in Bangkok and downgraded diplomatic ties.
Conflicts erupted around the border on Thursday.
Before resorting to artillery and rockets, both sides accused the other of employing drones. Thailand claimed that when Cambodian forces fired truck-mounted rockets, it retaliated with airstrikes. According to the Thai air force, two bombing flights against Cambodian positions were carried out by F-16 fighters.
The bombs, according to Cambodia, fell close to the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has been the focus of previous conflicts. Phnom Penh authorities promised to pursue international justice after releasing images they said demonstrated site damage.
Also, the border conflict has. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is still a powerful figure in his nation, was under investigation on July 1 for potential ethics violations related to a phone conversation with Cambodians.
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Cheang reported from Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey Province. This article was written by Eileen Ng of the Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur.
