Renewed border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand entered a second week Sunday after Thai officials denied U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that a truce had been agreed to halt the fighting.
The conflict, rooted in a long-running colonial-era dispute along the countries’ 800-kilometer (500-mile) border, has displaced about 800,000 people, according to officials. At least 25 people have been killed, including 14 Thai soldiers and 11 Cambodian civilians.
Trump said Friday that the two Southeast Asian neighbors had agreed to halt the fighting, but Thai leaders later said no ceasefire deal had been reached. Both governments reported continued clashes Sunday.
Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Surasant Kongsiri said Cambodian forces shelled and bombed several Thai border provinces overnight and into Sunday. Cambodia’s Defense Ministry spokeswoman, Maly Socheata, accused Thai forces of firing mortars and bombs into border areas since midnight.
After the promised truce failed to materialize, Cambodia closed its border crossings with Thailand on Saturday, leaving migrant workers stranded.
At an evacuation center in Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, 63-year-old Sean Leap said he had been displaced for six days. “I want it to stop,” he said, adding he was worried about his home and livestock.
In Thailand’s Surin province, resident Watthanachai Kamngam said he watched rockets streak across the sky early Sunday before hearing explosions in the distance.
Thailand has imposed an overnight curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. in parts of Sa Kaeo and Trat provinces.
The United States, China and Malaysia, as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, previously helped broker a ceasefire in July, but that agreement later collapsed. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Saturday that Trump did not request a ceasefire during a recent phone call.