 "Skies turn red in Thailand's Buriram province. Image courtesy: @ThaiEnquirer/X")
Viral pictures of skies turning red in Thailand after Cambodia launched artillery and mortar attacks against the country have gone viral, as conflict between the two neighbours escalates.
Officials have said that 19 people have been killed in the latest round of border fighting that reignited last week, while more than half a million people have fled the border areas in Thailand.
The Southeast Asian nations dispute the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier, where both sides claim a smattering of historic temples.
This week’s clashes are the deadliest since five days of fighting in July that killed dozens before a shaky truce was agreed, following intervention by Trump.
Both countries have blamed each other for escalating tensions, which has expanded to five provinces of both Thailand and Cambodia. Nine Thai soldiers have been killed this week and more than 120 wounded, Thai defence ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri told reporters on Thursday.
Trump to speak to Thailand and Cambodia
The US president said he expected to speak Thursday with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia to demand a halt to the clashes.
“I think I’m scheduled to speak to them tomorrow,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said there had been “no coordination” yet with Trump.
Quick Reads
View All“But if there’s a call from the US president, we definitely will answer the phone and we will explain to him… He does not have more details of the situation than me,” Anutin said.
“This is an issue between two countries. He has good intentions to see peace but we have to explain what the problems are and why it turned out this way,” the prime minister added.
US calls for restraint
The US State Department urged Cambodian and Thai forces to halt their clashes, warning that renewed fighting is jeopardising a ceasefire brokered earlier this year with support from President Trump.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the United States is “concerned” by the escalating violence. Hostilities resumed Sunday after an incident that left two Thai soldiers wounded, prompting tens of thousands of civilians to flee the border region.
Rubio called for the “immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, and for both sides to return to the de-escalatory measures outlined in the October 26 Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords,” which were signed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
With inputs from agencies