Twelve killed in Thailand-Cambodia border clashes

Thai officials say twelve people have been killed by clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers.

The battle is a part of the dispute between two Southeast Asian neighbors that have returned for more than a century.

According to Thailand’s army, most of the casualties were citizens and were from three Thai provinces, also reported that many people were injured. Cambodia has not yet confirmed whether he had any casualties.

Both sides exchanged bullets in early Thursday on Thursday and claimed that the second shot the first bullet. This quickly rose, with Thailand of firing rockets and bangkok of carbodian military targets of airstrikes on Cambodia.

Thailand has closed its border with Cambodia, while Cambodia has reduced its relationship with Thailand, which he has accused of using “excessive force”.

The two countries have asked their citizens to leave the area from the border, with Thailand vacating 40,000 citizens for safe places.

,[The fighting] Really serious. We are in the midst of emptying, “Sutian Fevcha, a local resident of Ban Dan district in Bariram province of Thailand near Cambodian border, told the BBC.

Thai officials said a total of 11 citizens-an eight-year-old and a 15-year-old military personnel have been killed in Surin, Ubon Ratchathni and Sriisket provinces.

Thailand and Cambodia have given different versions of what happened.

Thailand’s National Security Council (NSC) claims that after 07:30 local time (00: 30gmt) on Thursday, Cambodia’s army deployed drones to conduct the monitoring of Thai soldiers near the border.

Shortly thereafter, Cambodian military personnel collected near the border carrying rocket-propeled grenades. The soldiers of the Thai side attempted to talk by shouting, but failed, NSC spokesperson said, Cambodian soldiers set fire to around 08:20, forcing Thai side to vengeance.

Thailand has accused Cambodia of deploying heavy weapons, including BM -21 rocket launchers and artillery, damaging homes and public facilities, including a hospital and a petrol station with a Thai side of the border.

Meanwhile, Cambodia claims that Thai soldiers started the conflict at around 06:30, when they violated a prior agreement by moving forward at the Khmer-Hindu temple near the border and placing a thorny wire around their base.

The Thai soldiers then deployed a drone after 07:00, and a spokesman of Cambodia’s National Defense Ministry, according to Mali Socheta, fired “in the air” shots at around 08:30.

At 08:46, Thai soldiers set fire to “East-Khali” Cambodian soldiers, which gave them no alternative, but to exercise their right to self-defense, according to Nom Penh Post Newspaper quoting Socheta.

Thinking further accused Thailand of deploying excessive soldiers, using heavy weapons and carrying out airstrikes on the Cambodian region.

The dispute was back more than a hundred years ago, when the borders of the two countries were drawn after Cambodia’s French occupation.

Things officially became hostile in 2008, when Cambodia tried to register an 11th -century temple located in the disputed region as a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a step that was accompanied by hot opposition from Thailand.

There were sporadic clashes over the years, in which soldiers and citizens were killed on both sides.

The latest tension increased in May after the Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash. It immersed bilateral relations at their lowest point in more than a decade.

In the last two months, the two countries have imposed border restrictions on each other. Cambodia banned imports such as fruits and vegetables from Thailand, and stopped importing power and internet services.

The two countries have also strengthened the presence of a troop along the border in recent weeks.

Thailand’s acting premiere Fummitham Vichayachai said its dispute with Cambodia remains “delicate” and should be addressed with care and in line with international law.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said that his country wants to resolve the dispute peacefully and he has “no alternative” but “reply with the armed force against armed aggression”.

While there have been serious exchange of fire in the past, they increased relatively quickly.

While it seems that there is no possibility of flying in a full -scale war in the fight, the two countries lack leadership with the strength and confidence to retreat from this conflict.

Hun Manet, son of a former Strongmanman, has not yet to really has his right. Hun Sen, his father, are ready to further this struggle to burn their nationalist credibility.

In Thailand, there is an unstable coalition government, supported by another former Strongman Thakasin Shinavatra.

Thakasin believed that he had close ties with Hoon Sen and his family, and felt betrayed by Hun Sen’s decision to leak a personal conversation, which was suspended as Prime Minister, his daughter, Petongartan Shinavatra.

Additional reporting by May Tettara in Nom Penh.