 "A Thai military mobile unit fires towards Cambodia's side after Thailand and Cambodia exchanged heavy artillery on Friday as their worst fighting in more than a decade stretched for a second day, in Surin, Thailand. Reuters")
Thailand on Monday conducted airstrikes on Cambodia, triggering a fresh wave of fighting among the Asian neighbours. This marked a potential collapse of the peace plan presented by US President Donald Trump just two months ago.
In light of this, both sides have been accusing each other of launching strikes along their disputed border on Monday morning, weeks after the clashes between the two nations ended after the ceasefire agreement was put into place. A Thai military official said that the airstrikes on Cambodian military positions were retaliation for an attack earlier on Monday that killed one Thai soldier and wounded two others, CNN reported.
“The target was at Cambodia’s arms supporting positions in the area of Chong An Ma Pass, because those targets had used artillery and mortar launchers to attack the Thai side at Anupong Base, resulting in one soldier killed and two soldiers injured.” Thai Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said.
What is Cambodia saying
Meanwhile, Cambodia began targeting the Thai border at around 3 a.m. (local time) on Monday, the Thai army said. In a separate statement, the Cambodian army accused the Thai military of launching “an attack on the Cambodian forces” at around 5.04 a.m. local time.
“It should be noted that this attack occurred after the Thai forces engaged in numerous provocative actions for many days,” it said. In light of the turbulent situation, 70 per cent of Thai civilians have been evacuated from border towns.
The Thai government said that one civilian lost their life in the crashes and was reported during the evacuation process due to a “pre-existing medical condition." In July this year, Thailand and Cambodia fought a five-day border conflict that killed dozens of people and displaced about 200,000 people on both sides of the frontier.
The two sides agreed on an initial ceasefire on July 28 after Trump held calls with their respective leaders. Thailand and Cambodia eventually signed an expanded ceasefire declaration in Kuala Lumpur in late October in a ceremony witnessed by Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.