The fights on the Thai-Kambodian border stretched into a third day, and on Saturday new flashpoints appeared when both sides said they had acted in self-defense in the border dispute and asked the others to stop the fights and start negotiations.
More than 30 people were killed and more than 130,000 people who have been sold in the worst struggle between the Southeast Asian neighbors for 13 years.
In the early Saturday there was together early Saturday, said both sides in the neighboring Thai coastal province and Cambodia Pursat Province of Early, a new front more than 100 kilometers from other conflict points along the long -controversial border.
The two countries have been exposed to a short battle since the murder of a Cambodian soldier at the end of May. The troops on both sides of the border were reinforced in a full -blown diplomatic crisis, which brought the fragile coalition government in Thailand to the brink of collapse.
On Saturday, Thailand said that seven soldiers and 13 civilians were killed in the clashes, while five soldiers and eight civilians were killed in Cambodia, said the Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Maly Sochscheata.
In the Thai border province of Sisaket, a university site was converted into temporary accommodation, in which a volunteer said that more than 5,000 people lived.
A centuries -old border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia fired together after the fatal exchange and Cambodian armed forces. Andrew Chang explains what this recent violence has stimulated and why no side seems to be trying to withdraw.
Samrong Khamduang said she left her farm, about 10 kilometers from the border, when they fought on Thursday. The 51-year-old’s husband remained to take care of cattle.
“We were so afraid of the sound of the artillery,” she said. “But my husband remained and now we lost the connection. I couldn’t call him. I don’t know what’s going on.”
In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, the chairman of the Asean regional block, said that he would continue to drive a proposal for the armistice. Cambodia supported Anwar’s plan, while Thailand said that he fundamentally agreed.
“There is still an exchange of fires,” said Anwar, according to the state news agency Bernama. He said he asked his foreign minister “to work with the respective foreign ministries, and if possible, I will continue to deal with them myself – at least to stop the fights.”
US President Donald Trump said that he called Cambodia and Thailand’s leaders to ask the countries to agree to an armistice.
“The call with Cambodia has come to an end, but expect that he should call back on war stops and ceasefire, based on what Thailand has to say. I try to simplify a complex situation on Saturday on his social media platform and added that the call to Thailand’s leader will be made. “
Thailand, Cambodia commercial accusations
The Thai ambassador to the United Nations announced on Friday that soldiers had been injured twice since mid-July by newly planted land mines in Thai area-prudent that Cambodia had emphasized-and said Cambodia launched attacks on Thursday morning.
“Thailand asks Cambodia to stop all hostilities and aggression immediately and to resume dialogue in good faith,” Cherdchai Chaivaivid told the Council in the media that have approved the media.
The Cambodia Department of Defense said that Thailand had “launched an intentional, unprovoked and illegal military attack” and mobilized troops and military equipment at the border.
“These deliberate military preparations show the intention of expanding his aggression and further violating sovereignty in Cambodia,” said the ministry in a statement on Saturday.
Cambodia asked the international community to “condemn the aggression of Thailand in the strongest conditions” and to prevent an expansion of his military activities, while Bangkok repeated that she wanted to solve the dispute bilaterally.
Thailand and Cambodia have been glued to their 817-kilometer country border for decades due to the responsibility of various undemarked points. Own the old Hindu temple Ta Moan Thom and the Presidium of the 11th century.
Preah Vihear was awarded by the International Court of Court to Cambodia in 1962, but in 2008 escalated tension after Kambodia tried to act as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This led to battles over several years and at least a dozen deaths.
Cambodia said in June that the court asked to include its disputes in Thailand, which says that it never recognized the jurisdiction of the court and preferred a bilateral approach.
