The United States has expressed concern about a new wave of armed clashes between Cambodia and Thailand along several points of their shared border.
In a statement posted today on its official Facebook page, the US Embassy in Phnom Penh said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday urged an immediate halt to the fighting following fresh confrontations that have again claimed civilian lives.
Rubio said Washington is troubled by the repeated outbreaks of violence on the frontier. He called for an immediate end to hostilities to protect civilians and return to the de-escalation steps outlined in the Kuala Lumpur peace agreement.
The Secretary of State also pressed both Cambodia and Thailand to respect the ceasefire terms they accepted in late October. That agreement was witnessed by US President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
The renewed conflict has entered its third day, with fighting intensifying across multiple border areas.
On December 9, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters outside Government House that the conflict can no longer be stopped and that his civilian government fully backs Thai military operations. He said the objective is to weaken Cambodia completely and exhaust its ability to fight.
Anutin said he has already given the military full clearance to carry out a jointly planned operation designed to improve the effectiveness of the Thai campaign.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence reported today that Thai forces launched eleven attacks between 5.20 a.m. and 2.22 p.m. on December 10. The ministry said the assaults involved heavy artillery, drone-dropped explosives, and F-16 fighter jets.
On December 9 alone, Thai troops fired two heavy munitions into Slar Kram commune in Banteay Meanchey province at 2.40 a.m. Later that morning and into the night, Thai forces shelled Chouk Chey village, sent drones into Cambodian territory in Pursat and Battambang provinces, and fired 60 millimetre mortars into Sampov Loun district.
The ministry said Thai forces carried out fifteen attacks on December 8 and three attacks on December 7, the first day of the latest escalation.
Over the past three days, nine Cambodian civilians have been killed and twenty others injured. The casualties include three deaths and eight injuries in Oddar Meanchey, one death and two injuries in Preah Vihear, and three deaths and ten injuries in Banteay Meanchey.
More than thirty thousand families have now fled their homes. Authorities estimate the total number of people affected at more than one hundred thousand across six provinces, including nearly ten thousand families in Oddar Meanchey and over six thousand in Preah Vihear.
Banteay Meanchey has recorded more than ten thousand displaced families, while smaller numbers have fled in Pursat, Battambang, and Siem Reap.
