Over 500,000 people flee Thailand-Cambodia border fighting as Trump pledges to intervene, with dozens killed and civilians displaced
SAMRAONG: Half a million evacuees in Cambodia and Thailand were sheltering in pagodas, schools and other safe havens on Wednesday after fleeing fresh border clashes while US President Donald Trump vowed to intercede to stop the fighting.
At least 15 people, including Thai soldiers and Cambodian civilians, have been killed in the latest hostilities, officials said, while more than 500,000 people have fled border areas near where jets, tanks and drones were waging battle.
AFP journalists in northwestern Cambodia’s Samraong town on Wednesday morning heard the blasts of incoming artillery from the direction of centuries-old temples in disputed border areas.
By the afternoon, hundreds of families were leaving a shelter at a pagoda near Samraong where they had been staying since Monday.
“Authorities say it is not safe anymore,” said Seut Soeung, 30, as she rested at a roadside with her family as vehicles loaded with people, dogs and clothes passed by.
A policeman who asked not to be named said the displaced families were being evacuated from the temple grounds due to safety concerns after a few Thai jets flew nearby.
Thailand and Cambodia dispute the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier, where competing claims to historic temples have spilled over into armed conflict.
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 sides blame the other for reigniting the conflict, which has expanded to five provinces of both Thailand and Cambodia, according to an AFP tally of official accounts.
A Thai defence ministry spokesperson said Wednesday that more than 400,000 civilians have been evacuated to shelters.
‘Run for my life’
Sugarcane farmer Niam Poda fled her home just five kilometres from the frontier in Thailand’s border province of Sa Kaeo for the second time in five months.
The 62-year-old said she was doing laundry on Monday when a loud explosion rang out.
“I just had to run for my life as soon as I could,” she told AFP at an evacuation centre, adding that she had left her medicines behind.
“Whatever happens next, I hope peace will come so I can go back to caring for my sugarcane in peace,” she added.
The Thai military announced an overnight curfew from 7:00 pm to 5:00 am in parts of Sa Kaeo beginning Wednesday night.
In Cambodia, more than 101,000 people have been evacuated to shelters and relatives’ homes, defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata told reporters.
“The Thai army fired indiscriminately into civilian areas and schools and especially shelled Ta Krabey temple,” she said, calling the contested border temple a “sacred site of Cambodia”.
Cambodia’s Interior Ministry gave an updated death toll of 10 civilians. Maly Socheata earlier said an infant was among those killed.
The Thai army, meanwhile, said Cambodian forces fired rockets early Wednesday that landed in the vicinity of the Phanom Dong Rak Hospital in Surin province — which was struck in the fighting in July.
Cambodia withdrew Wednesday from the Southeast Asian Games taking place in Thailand, citing safety concerns for its athletes.
‘Make a call’
In Washington, Trump told reporters he was due to call the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Thursday, and predicted he could settle the hostilities “pretty quickly.”
“I think I can get them to stop fighting. Who else can do that?” Trump said Wednesday.
The United States, China and Malaysia, as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN, brokered a ceasefire back in July.
In October, Trump backed a follow-on joint declaration, touting new trade deals with Thailand and Cambodia after they agreed to prolong their truce.
But Thailand suspended the agreement the following month.
Thailand’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told reporters Wednesday that the fighting would eventually end through talks, but now was not the time for dialogue.
“If any third country wants to mediate, Thailand can’t accept that at this stage because the line has been crossed,” he said.
“Thai citizens have been killed and we need to ensure there is enough trust before talks can begin.”
UN human rights chief Volker Turk told journalists in Geneva that agreements between Thailand and Cambodia “have yet to translate into effective protection of civilians on the ground”.
Pope Leo XIV called for a ceasefire Wednesday and offered his prayers for those fleeing the fighting at his weekly audience at the Vatican. – AFP
