Thailand, Cambodia clashes intensify

Thailand and Cambodia exchanged heavy artillery fire for a second day on Friday as border fighting intensified and spread, killing at least 20 people and uprooting more than 138,000 villagers in the worst fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours in 13 years.

Both sides have blamed each other for starting the conflict and on Friday ratcheted up the rhetoric. Cambodia's prime minister said Thailand had agreed to a Malaysian ceasefire proposal but then backed down, while his Thai counterpart warned that clashes "could develop into war".

Thailand accused Cambodia of deliberately attacking civilians and Cambodia condemned Thailand for using cluster munitions, controversial and widely condemned. Thailand's acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, said Cambodia had attacked on multiple fronts.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a social media post that he had agreed to a ceasefire proposed by his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim, chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, who had informed him that Phumtham had also agreed.

"However, it is regrettable that just over an hour later, the Thai side informed that they had reversed their position," Hun Manet said. Thailand later said it agreed in principle with the idea of a ceasefire and would consider it, but that it must be based on "appropriate on-the-ground conditions".

Throughout the day, "Cambodian forces have continued their indiscriminate attacks," the Thai foreign ministry said in a post on X. "Cambodia's actions demonstrate a lack of good faith and continue to place civilians in danger."

Fighting re-erupted before dawn on Friday, with clashes reported in 12 locations, up from six on Thursday, according to Thailand's military. It accused Cambodia of using artillery and Russian-made BM-21 rockets to attack areas that included schools and hospitals.

"The deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime and those responsible must be brought to justice." It put the blame squarely on the Phnom Penh government, which it said was being steered by Hun Sen, influential former premier of nearly four decades and father of Hun Manet.

In Thailand's Surin province intermittent bursts of explosions could be heard, while soldiers marshalled traffic on a rural road along which artillery guns were being loaded and fired in succession, emitting orange flashes, loud explosions and grey smoke.

The fighting started early on Thursday, quickly escalating from small arms fire to heavy shelling in multiple areas 210 km apart along a frontier where sovereignty has been disputed for more than a century. Thailand also deployed an F-16 fighter jet to strike a Cambodian military target.

Cambodia, which has no fighter jet and less defence hardware and personnel, has urged the Security Council to address "Thailand's unprovoked military aggression". Two senior Thai officials said Bangkok received mediation offers from the US, Malaysia and China, but they preferred bilateral mechanisms.

Cambodia said Thailand's bombardments had caused "significant and visible damage" to the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that both countries have laid claim to for decades. Thailand's military called the allegation "a clear distortion of facts".

The trigger for the conflict was Thailand recalling its ambassador to Phnom Penh and expelling 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 denied that.

The death toll in Thailand rose to 19 on Friday, 13 of them civilians, with 62 people wounded. Cambodia's government has not reported any casualties, but a Oddar Meanchey provincial official said 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. Thailand has prepared nearly 300 facilities for evacuees, more of which poured into shelters in Surin province after hearing shelling. The two countries share 800-kilometre long border.