More deaths as Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue

Phnom Penh [Cambodia]/Bangkok [Thailand], December 9 : Cambodia on Tuesday said that Thailand's military has resumed attacks in the border regions between the two countries, killing at least two people.

As per Cambodia's Information Ministry, at least seven civilians were killed in attacks overnight and this morning with another 20 people injured as per the Khmer Times media outlet.

Thailand, meanwhile, said that two more of its soldiers were killed in the latest border clashes raising the Thai death toll to three since the beginning of the clashes on December 7 (Sunday), Bangkok Post cited the Royal Thai Army today.

The Cambodian Defence Ministry said in a statement today cited by Khmer Times that from 8:39 pm on December 8 until 8 am on December 9, the Thai military forces operated intense shelling activities in Chok Chey and Prey Chan villages.

"They also deployed drones for aerial reconnaissance in the Boeung Trakuon area and expanded their scope of operations to Boeung Pring, Thmar Pouk, and Komrieng districts in Battambang Province, using various types of heavy and destructive military weapons and shooting gas.

Further, the Cambodian Defence Ministry said that shelling by the Thai military forces, which targeted Thmar Pouk district, Banteay Meanchey Province, resulted in the deaths of two civilians who were fleeing the Thai shelling on Cambodia's National Road 56.

Bangkok said Cambodia was continually provoking Thailand, firing weapons and planting landmines and in the face of such persistent provocations it is forced to retaliate.

According to Thai military officials, the clashes spread to six of the seven provinces bordering Cambodia, and a Thai Navy-led operation is in progress in its Trat province to expel Cambodian soldiers. They alleged that Cambodia was using artillery, rocket launchers and bomb-dropping drones to attack Thai forces.

The latest escalation comes after a US Donald Trump-brokered truce on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur between Thailand and Cambodia that has been in place since late October, when Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian leader Hun Manet agreed to halt hostilities. The ceasefire followed the violent military clashes in July this year in which nearly four dozen people were killed and displaced an estimated over 300,000 people.

Al Jazeera said that as per the deal brokered by Malaysia and the US, both Thailand and Cambodia agreed to military de-escalation, including removing heavy weaponry and landmines from the border under ASEAN supervision. They also agreed to stop engaging in online information warfare fuelling the conflict.

As per the news outlet, Thailand said it would release 18 Cambodian soldiers it had held since July 29. Since October, however, several rounds of renewed clashes and mutual accusations have threatened the ceasefire. Last month, Thailand said it would suspend its implementation of the deal after one of its soldiers was wounded in a landmine explosion.

The Al Jazeera report stated that Thailand has not yet released the 18 Cambodian soldiers, saying it will do so when Cambodia abides by its side of the agreement.

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