Border fighting enters second week with 25 dead and 800,000 displaced, as Thailand denies US claims of a ceasefire agreement
BANTEAY MEANCHEY: Deadly border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand have entered a second week.
Thai officials denied US President Donald Trump’s claim that the Southeast Asian neighbours had agreed to a truce.
The conflict stems from a colonial-era demarcation dispute along their 800-kilometre shared frontier.
It has displaced approximately 800,000 people, according to officials.
At least 25 people have been killed, including 14 Thai soldiers and 11 Cambodian civilians.
Each side blames the other for instigating the fighting and accuses the other of attacking civilians.
“I have been here for six days and I feel sad that the fighting continues,” said 63-year-old evacuee Sean Leap.
Trump said on Friday that the two countries had agreed to halt the fighting.
Thai leaders later stated no ceasefire deal was made, and both governments confirmed clashes continued on Sunday morning.
Thai defence ministry spokesman Surasant Kongsiri said Cambodia shelled and bombed several border provinces overnight.
Cambodian defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said Thailand continued to fire mortars and bombs into border areas since midnight.
Cambodia shut its border crossings with Thailand on Saturday, stranding migrant workers.
Cheav Sokun, 38, is at an evacuation site while her husband remains stranded in Thailand.
“He asked me to return first. After that, the border was closed so he cannot come back,” she said.
In Thailand’s Surin province, music teacher Watthanachai Kamngam reported seeing rockets trail across the sky on Sunday morning.
The Thai military has imposed an overnight curfew in parts of Sa Kaeo and Trat provinces.
A ceasefire brokered by the US, China and Malaysia in July collapsed.
Thailand suspended a follow-on agreement in November after its soldiers were wounded by landmines.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Trump “didn’t mention whether we should make a ceasefire” during a phone call on Friday.
Anutin said the US president had guaranteed Thailand would get “better benefits than other countries” in trade talks. – AFP
