At least 20 people have been killed and more than half a million displaced to shelter in evacuation centres as border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia intensify.
Cambodia’s defence ministry said Thailand had launched further airstrikes on Thursday, accusing its neighbour of violating international laws by using “all kinds of heavy weapons and deploying large number of troops to encroach the Cambodian territory”.
The Thai army said Cambodia had launched an attack on Wednesday night with artillery and mortars against Thai positions, prompting it to respond with the same kinds of heavy weapons and causing damage including “the destruction of enemy trucks”.
The clashes this week are the deadliest since five days of fighting killed dozens before a ceasefire was brokered. Cambodia and Thailand each accuse the other of violating the peace deal.
The US, China and Malaysia, as chair of the regional bloc Asean, brokered a ceasefire back in July.
But Thailand suspended the agreement the following month after a Thai soldier was wounded by a landmine. Thailand alleged the landmine had been newly laid by Cambodia – an allegation it has denied.
More than 400,000 civilians in Thailand have been evacuated to shelters, according to a defence ministry spokesperson.
In Cambodia, more than 101,000 people had been evacuated to shelters and relatives’ homes, the defence ministry spokesperson, Maly Socheata, told reporters.
Read more at Al Jazeera , and The Guardian
