Thai PM says dispute with Cambodia could ‘escalate into a state of war’

Thailand and Cambodia exchanged heavy artillery fire for a second day on Friday as their worst fighting in over a decade intensified and spread to new areas, despite international calls for a ceasefire.

At least 16 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in the escalating border battle.

Both sides have blamed each other for starting the conflict and on Friday ratcheted up the rhetoric, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of deliberately targeting civilians and Cambodia alleging Thailand was using cluster munitions, a controversial and widely condemned ordnance.

Thailand’s acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai said Cambodia had launched attacks on multiple fronts and that Thailand was defending its territory against “acts of intrusion and aggression that are causing harm to the people’s lives.”

“The situation has intensified and could escalate into a state of war. At present, it’s a confrontation involving heavy weapons,” he told reporters.

The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis later Friday in New York.

Fighting in more locations Friday

Fighting re-erupted before dawn, with clashes reported in 12 locations, up from six on Thursday, according to Thailand’s military, which accused Cambodia of using artillery and Russian-made BM-21 rocket systems to target areas that included schools and hospitals.

The Thai military described Cambodia’s bombardment as “appalling attacks,” putting the blame squarely on the Phnom Penh government, which it said was being led by Hun Sen, the influential former premier of nearly four decades and father of current Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.

“The deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime, and those responsible must be brought to justice,” the Thai military added.

More than 130,000 people have been evacuated from conflict areas in Thailand, where the death toll rose to 15 as of early Friday, 14 of those civilians, according to the health ministry. It said 46 people were wounded, including 15 soldiers.

Cambodia’s national government has provided no details on casualties or evacuations and did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. An official from Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province said one civilian had been killed and five wounded, with 1,500 families evacuated.

The fighting started early on Thursday, quickly escalating from small arms fire to heavy shelling in multiple areas 210 kilometres apart along a frontier where sovereignty has been disputed for more than a century.

The trigger was Thailand’s recalling of its ambassador to Phnom Penh and expulsion of Cambodia’s envoy on Wednesday, in response to a second Thai soldier losing a limb to a landmine that Bangkok alleged had been laid recently by rival troops. Cambodia has dismissed that as baseless.

Cambodia’s defence ministry and its government’s landmine authority condemned what they said was Thailand’s use of a large amount of cluster munitions, calling it a violation of international law.

Thailand, not among the signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thailand rules out mediation

Reuters journalists in Thailand’s Surin province saw a Thai military convoy that included about a dozen trucks, armoured vehicles and tanks cut across provincial roads ringed by paddy fields as it moved toward the border. Intermittent bursts of explosions could be heard amid a heavy presence of armed troops.

Soldiers marshalled traffic on a rural road along which artillery guns were being loaded and fired in succession, emitting orange flashes followed by loud explosions and grey smoke.

More evacuees arrived at shelters in Surin province, fleeing their homes after hearing the booms of shelling.

“We heard very loud explosions, so we came here. We were so scared,” said Aung Ying Yong, 67, wiping away her tears with a towel.

“So many people are in trouble because of this war … we are very sad that we have to live like this.”

The United States, a longtime treaty ally of Thailand, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, as did Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the chair of the regional bloc ASEAN, who said he had spoken to leaders of both countries and urged them to find a peaceful way out.

But Thailand’s foreign ministry said on Friday it has rejected mediation efforts from third countries after offers to facilitate dialogue from the United States, China and Malaysia,

“We stand by our position that bilateral mechanism is the best way out,” foreign ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told Reuters in an interview.  

Global Affairs Canada in a statement Friday called on both countries “to de-escalate tensions and engage in dialogue toward a peaceful solution.”

Ottawa has also advised Canadians to avoid all travel to the Thailand-Cambodia, to avoid essential travel to Thailand’s eastern provinces, and avoid essential travel to Cambodia’s northern and northwestern provinces.

WATCH l Recap of Thursday’s hostilities: 

Thailand and Cambodia clash in a deadly border dispute

A months-long standoff between Cambodia and Thailand escalated into a deadly firefight along their disputed border on Thursday that’s left several civilians and at least one soldier dead, according to Thai authorities.

Thailand had on Thursday mobilized an F-16 fighter jet in a rare combat deployment, which carried out an airstrike on a Cambodian military target, among measures Cambodia called “reckless and brutal military aggression” in its appeal for the UN Security Council to address the issue.

Thailand’s use of an F-16 underlines its military advantage over Cambodia, which has no fighter aircraft and significantly less defence hardware and personnel.