SAEDNEWS: A Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia, as a simmering border dispute rapidly ignited into fierce clashes, bombing and shelling that have killed at least nine civilians in Thailand and were preceded by a diplomatic meltdown.
Thailand and Cambodia each blamed the other for the new outbreak of fighting that erupted early Thursday in an area near the disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple – located in a border area in northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.
The Thai army said in a statement that nine Thai civilians had been killed, including a 9-year-old boy, across three provinces, with 14 injured.
Thai military official Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said the fighting had taken place in at least six locations, leading Thailand’s military to close all border checkpoints between the countries.
Thailand’s military said Cambodia had deployed a surveillance drone before sending troops to the area, adding that Cambodian forces had then opened fire with heavy weapons, including artillery and long-range BM21 rockets, forcing Thai soldiers to retaliate.
Sutthirot Charoenthanasak, district chief of Kabcheing in Surin province, told the Reuters news agency that two people had been killed when Cambodian shelling struck their homes.
He added that district authorities had evacuated 40,000 civilians from 86 villages near the border to safer locations.
Thailand’s military said one of six F-16 fighter jets readied to deploy in the border conflict has bombed a military target in Cambodia.
“We have used air power against military targets as planned,” Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters.
In a situation deteriorating by the hour, Cambodian forces launched attacks on civilian areas in Thailand, including a hospital, causing deaths, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. 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.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense said the jets dropped two bombs on a road, and that it “strongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia”.
The Cambodian ministry also accused Thailand of attacking first and violating an agreement designed to de-escalate tension.
It said Cambodian troops had acted in self-defense after coming under attack from Thailand’s army.
Cambodia’s influential former Prime Minister, Hun Sen, said in a post on social media that Thailand’s military had shelled two Cambodian provinces bordering Thailand, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear.
Hun Sen said “the Cambodian army has no choice but to fight back and counterattack”. He also called for the public to remain calm and not panic-buy rice and other food supplies.
Reporting from Koh Lanta, southern Thailand, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said the dispute “has been simmering for some time but it seems to have exploded today”.
“We understand this morning there was a clash between the two militaries. The Thais say the Cambodians fired first, the Cambodians say it was actually the Thais who snuck across the border and started pulling up barbed wire.”
The Royal Thai Embassy in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, said the situation on the border had “continuously escalated” and, with clashes likely to “be prolonged and expand”, urged its nationals to leave Cambodia “as soon as possible”, unless they had urgent reasons to remain.
The latest fighting comes after a Thai soldier sustained injuries on Wednesday and lost his right leg in a landmine explosion, which authorities in Thailand have blamed on Cambodia. Three Thai soldiers were also injured by a mine blast while on a patrol along the disputed border area on July 16.
Cambodia has denied planting mines, and claims that Thai soldiers have veered off agreed jungle paths and triggered long-buried mines left behind from Cambodia’s decades of civil war.
Following the latest landmine incident, Thailand’s governing Pheu Thai Party said it had recalled Thailand’s ambassador to Cambodia and would expel Cambodia’s ambassador from the country.
Thailand has also downgraded diplomatic relations with Cambodia, the party said.
In response, Cambodia said it would withdraw all of its diplomats from Thailand, and ordered all Thai diplomats to leave the country.
The Cambodian government has also downgraded diplomatic relations with Thailand to the “lowest level”, reducing it to the rank of “second secretary”, according to local news outlet the Phnom Penh Post.
In May, the long-running border dispute between the two countries boiled over into military clashes that left one Cambodian soldier dead.
Border tension has soured relations between the Southeast Asian neighbors, with the two sides trading barbs and tit-for-tat retaliatory measures, including the closure of border crossings.
Cambodia has also blocked imports of fuel and gas, as well as fruit and vegetables, from Thailand.
Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817km (508-mile) land border.
