Over 100,000 Thai civilians flee amid clashes with Cambodia as death toll rises to 14

BANGKOK – More than 100,000 people have fled the

bloodiest border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia

in a decade, Bangkok said on July 25, as the death toll rose and international powers urged a halt to hostilities.

A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on July 24, with the UN Security Council set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis on July 25.

The Thai Interior Ministry said more than 100,000 people from four border provinces had been moved to nearly 300 temporary shelters, while the kingdom’s Health Ministry announced that the death toll had risen to 14 – 13 civilians and one soldier.

Cambodian newspaper Khmer Times reported that as at 6am local time on July 25 (5am Singapore time), both countries’ troops were still fighting, with shelling continuing in several areas in the early hours of the morning.

“Cambodian forces have conducted sustained bombardment utilising heavy weapons, field artillery and BM-21 rocket systems,” the Thai military said in a July 25 statement.

“Thai forces have responded with appropriate supporting fire in accordance with the tactical situation.” 

In the Cambodian town of Samraong, 20km from the border, AFP journalists reported hearing distant artillery fire on July 25 morning.

As the guns started up, some families packed their children and belongings into vehicles and sped away.

“I live very close to the border. We are scared because they began shooting again at about 6am,” Mr Pro Bak, 41, told AFP.

He was taking his wife and children to a Buddhist temple to seek refuge. “I don’t know when we can return home,” he said.

AFP journalists also saw soldiers rushing to man rocket launchers and speeding off towards the frontier.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet urged citizens in a July 24 Facebook post to uphold “morality and dignity” and avoid any actions that could harm the Thai embassy, Thai companies, or Thai nationals residing in Cambodia, reported Thai newspaper The Nation.

“For Cambodian citizens who are living, working, or studying in Thailand and may be facing pressure from discrimination and wish to return to Cambodia, please come back to our country,” he said.

He added that those who require assistance can contact the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Bangkok or the Consulate-General of Cambodia in Sa Kaeo province in Thailand.

Calls for calm

The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbours – both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists – over their shared 800km frontier.

Dozens of kilometres in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.

A UN court ruling in 2013 put to rest the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash.

The fighting on July 24 was concentrated around six locations, according to the Thai army, including around two ancient temples.

Cambodia fired rockets and shells into Thailand, while the Thais scrambled F-16 jets to hit military targets across the border, with ground troops on both sides, backed up by tanks, battling for control of territory.

Both countries blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket.

The July 24 clashes came hours after Thailand expelled the Cambodian ambassador and recalled its own envoy after five members of a Thai military patrol were wounded by a landmine.

Diplomatic sources told AFP that the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on July 25 over the clashes.

The meeting, requested by Mr Hun Manet, will be held behind closed doors at 1900 GMT (July 26, 3am Singapore time), the sources said.

Cambodia downgraded ties to “the lowest level” on July 24, pulling out all but one of its diplomats and expelling their Thai equivalents from Phnom Penh.

The US urged an “immediate” end to the conflict, while Cambodia’s former colonial ruler France made a similar call.

The European Union and China – a close ally of Phnom Penh – said they were “deeply concerned” about the clashes, calling for dialogue.

“The United States urges an immediate cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians and a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told journalists.

Britain’s Foreign Ministry on July 24 advised against all but essential travel to parts of Cambodia and Thailand. AFP, REUTERS, THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK