Cambodia Urges Immediate Ceasefire with Thailand After Deadly Border Clashes – 12 Killed, 45 Injured
Cambodia calls for an immediate ceasefire with Thailand after deadly border clashes near the Preah Vihear temple leave 12 dead and 45 injured. ASEAN and UN urged to intervene as tensions escalate
Cambodia wants an “immediate ceasefire” with Thailand, the country’s envoy to the United Nations said Friday. Bangkok also signaled an openness to talks. The statements came after the two neighbours engaged in deadly strikes for a second day.
Tension at Thailand-Cambodia border escalated on Thursday. The countries exchanged heavy artillery fire for a second day on Friday as border fighting intensified and spread. Amid the violence, the Cambodian death toll in Thai clashes rose to 13, the defence ministry said.
Cambodia’s leader said Thailand had agreed to a Malaysian ceasefire proposal but then backed down, Reuters reported.
“Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire — unconditionally — and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute,” Phnom Penh’s UN ambassador Chhea Keo was quoted by news agency AFP as saying following a closed meeting of the UN Security Council attended by Cambodia and Thailand on Friday.
Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nikorndej Balankura told AFP that Bangkok was open to talks, possibly aided by Malaysia, but claimed they have not recieved any proposal yet. Balankura said fighting had begun to ease off by Friday afternoon.
“We are ready, if Cambodia would like to settle this matter via diplomatic channels, bilaterally, or even through Malaysia, we are ready to do that. But, so far, we have not had any response,” Nikorndej told AFP, speaking before the UN meeting had been held.
At the UN, Cambodia’s envoy responded to accusations that Cambodia attacked Thailand, asking how a small country with no air force could attack a much larger country with an army three times its size, stressing, “We do not do that.”
“(The Security Council) called for both parties to (show) maximum restraint and resort to a diplomatic solution. That is what we are calling for as well,” said Chhea Keo.4. Malaysia called for an end to hostilities and offered to mediate. Malaysia currently holds the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, of which Thailand and Cambodia are both members.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Friday that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to a ceasefire and to withdraw their troops from the border, but requested more time before implementing the action, according to a report by Malaysia’s Bernama national news agency.
Anwar said he had spoken to both Cambodian leader Hun Manet and Thailand’s Phumtham and urged them to open space for “peaceful dialogue and diplomatic resolution,” while offering to have Malaysia facilitate talks.
Earlier, acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai had warned that if the situation escalated, “it could develop into war.” He told reporters in Bangkok, “For now, it remains limited to clashes.”
Fighting resumed in three areas around 4 am on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday), the Thai army said, with Cambodian forces firing heavy weapons, field artillery, and BM-21 rocket systems, and Thai troops responding “with appropriate supporting fire.”
Tensions over a disputed border area erupted into fighting after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers on Wednesday. Fighting, which began on Thursday, focused on six locations, according to the Thai army. These included around two ancient temples.
The latest conflict marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbors – both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists – over their shared 800-kilometer (500-mile) border.
Both sides blamed each other for firing first. Thailand also accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket.
The latest flare-up in a long-running border dispute between the two countries has killed at least 19 people in Thailand — mostly civilians —while Cambodia confirmed its first fatality on Friday.
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.
