Phnom Penh/Bangkok, Dec 24 Cambodia said on Wednesday that the Thai military used fighter jets to drop cluster bombs in Banteay Meanchey province. The Thai army responded that the cluster bombs deployed exclusively targetted military objectives.
The Thai military also used fighter jets to drop four bombs into civilian areas in Battambang province, the Cambodian Ministry of Defence said in a press release, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority on Tuesday expressed its grave concern regarding reports of Thailand's use of cluster munitions and toxic gas in or near civilian areas.
Winthai Suvaree, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Army, said on Wednesday that what Cambodia claimed to be cluster bombs were used against military targets, and these shells are not weapons designed to harm civilians.
Winthai emphasized that the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits parties from using, producing, or stockpiling such weapons, is not binding because neither Thailand nor Cambodia is a party to the convention.
On Tuesday, a Cambodian defence spokesperson said that Thai military forces continued to use artillery and tank-mounted machine guns to fire at multiple targets in Cambodian territory.
"The Thai military had attacked locations where Cambodian civilians resided, resulting in 21 civilian deaths, including one infant, and injuries to 83 others as of 6 pm on December 22," Defence Ministry's Undersecretary of State and Spokesperson Lt. General Maly Socheata said at a press briefing.
The Cambodia-Thailand border conflict has reignited since December 7, and both sides have accused the other of initiating the attack.
According to the latest figures released by the Cambodian Ministry of Interior, the conflict has so far forced about 545,000 Cambodians to flee their homes for safe shelters.
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