Border battle expands as Thailand and Cambodia clash for second day  

BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH – A fierce border battle between Thailand and Cambodia raged for a second day and spread to new fronts on Dec 9, as both countries accused each other of shelling civilian areas and Bangkok vowed to push on with its planned military operations.

With the neighbours trading blame for starting

Dec 8’s renewed clashes

, it was unclear how or if a fragile ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump in July could be salvaged.

Thailand’s military said its tanks fired shells into a border casino complex being used by Cambodia’s army as a firing position and weapons storage area, while fighter jets conducted air strikes for a second day on what the air force said were strategic military targets.

Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said its troops had no choice but to take defensive action on Dec 9 and accused Thailand of “indiscriminately and brutally targeting civilian residential areas” with artillery shells, allegations Bangkok rejected.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ruled out dialogue and said the military had a plan that it would carry out in full.

“We can’t stop now. We have already given our commitment to the armed forces that they can fully carry out the planned operations. The government is providing support in every way,” Mr Anutin told reporters.

Both countries said they have evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from border areas.

Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said nine civilians had been killed since Dec 8, and 20 seriously injured, while Thai officials said three soldiers had been killed and 29 people injured.

The fighting is the most intense since a five-day exchange of rockets and heavy artillery in July that marked the two sides’ heaviest clashes in recent history, when at least 48 people were killed and 300,000 displaced before

Mr Trump intervened to broker a ceasefire

.

Tensions have simmered since

Thailand

in November

suspended de-escalation measures

that were agreed at a summit overseen by Mr Trump, after a Thai soldier was maimed by a landmine that Bangkok said Cambodia had recently laid.

Phnom Penh rejects the allegation.

Fighting on new fronts

It is unclear what triggered the latest round of hostilities, and the prospects of resolution appeared dim on Dec 9, with both countries vowing to fight on and defend their sovereignty.

In an interview with Reuters, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said

he saw no potential for negotiations with Cambodia

, adding that the situation was not conducive to third-party mediation and Cambodia must stop hostilities.

“What Cambodia can do is stop what they are doing, and say that they are ready to have talks,” he said.

Fighting broke out in new locations on Dec 9 along the 817km border, stretching from the forested hills bordering Laos to Thailand’s coastal province of Trat, where the military said navy-led operations were under way to expel Cambodian soldiers.

It said Cambodia was using artillery, rocket launchers and bomb-dropping drones.

Cambodia’s influential former leader Hun Sen said his country waited 24 hours to honour the ceasefire and allow for evacuations before launching counter-attacks overnight against Thai forces.

“Cambodia needs peace, but Cambodia is compelled to counter-attack to defend our territory,” he said in a Facebook post, adding that strong bunkers and weapons gave Cambodian forces the advantage in defending against an “invading enemy”.

‘I want it to end’

Verified videos from Cambodia showed long lines of vehicles and motorcycles leaving border areas and a thick plume of smoke in the sky after an explosion near the town of Samroang, about 21km from the border.

In Thailand’s Buriram province, evacuees dozed on floor mats under large tents as others joined queues for meals and children played outside.

Ms Laongdao Chulsri, 34, fled her home on Dec 8 for the second time after being displaced by the last round of fighting in July.

“I want it to end. I want this to be the last fight to end it all,” she said, holding her infant son and fighting back tears.

Thailand has superior military capabilities, with armed forces that dwarf its neighbour’s in terms of personnel, budget and weaponry, including fighter jets that the armed forces said were carrying out air strikes on hostile positions.

“Thai operations focus solely on military targets... to reduce the Cambodian military capabilities,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri said.

Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at undemarcated points along ​their 817km land border, with disputes over ancient temples stirring nationalist fervour and occasional armed flare-ups, including a deadly week-long ​artillery exchange in 2011. REUTERS