Thailand, Cambodia clashes displace 138,000

SURIN, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai warned Friday that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people “could develop into war,” as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day.

A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis later Friday.

A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and five more wounded.

More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, its health ministry said, reporting 15 fatalities — 14 civilians and a soldier — with a further 46 wounded, including 15 troops.

“We have tried to compromise as we are neighbors, but we have now instructed the Thai military to act immediately in case of urgency,” Wechayachai said.

“If the situation escalates, it could develop into war, though for now, it remains limited to clashes,” he told reporters in Bangkok.

In the Cambodian town of Samraong, 20 kilometers from the border, Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists saw families speeding away in vehicles with their children and belongings as gunfire erupted.

“I live very close to the border. We are scared because they began shooting again at about 6 a.m.,” 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 could return home,” he said.

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

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country currently holds the chair of regional bloc ASEAN, said he held talks with both countries leaders on Thursday and called for a ceasefire and dialogue.

“I welcome the positive signals and willingness shown by both Bangkok and Phnom Penh to consider this path forward,” he said in a Facebook post late on Thursday.

But despite Anwar’s optimism, fighting resumed in three areas around 4 a.m. on Friday, the Thai army said.

Cambodian forces carried out bombardments with heavy weapons, field artillery, and BM-21 rocket systems, the army said, and Thai troops responded “with appropriate supporting fire.”