{"id":1908,"date":"2025-07-24T08:36:39","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T08:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/24\/thailand-launches-air-attacks-on-cambodia-as-deadly-border-clashes-escalate\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T08:36:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T08:36:39","slug":"thailand-launches-air-attacks-on-cambodia-as-deadly-border-clashes-escalate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/07\/24\/thailand-launches-air-attacks-on-cambodia-as-deadly-border-clashes-escalate\/","title":{"rendered":"Thailand launches air attacks on Cambodia as deadly border clashes escalate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A Thai F-16 fighter jet has bombed targets in Cambodia, as a simmering border dispute rapidly ignited into fierce clashes, bombing and shelling that have killed at least nine civilians in Thailand and were preceded by a diplomatic meltdown.<\/p>\n

Thailand and Cambodia each blamed the other for the new outbreak of fighting that erupted early Thursday in an area near the disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple \u2013 located in a border area in northwestern Cambodia\u2019s Oddar Meanchey province.<\/p>\n

The Thai army said in a statement that nine Thai civilians had been killed, including an 9-year-old boy, across three provinces, with 14 injured.<\/p>\n

Thai military official Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said the fighting had taken place in at least six locations, leading Thailand\u2019s military to close all border checkpoints between the countries.<\/p>\n

Thailand\u2019s military said Cambodia had deployed a surveillance drone before sending troops to the area, adding that Cambodian forces had then opened fire with heavy weapons, including artillery and long-range BM21 rockets, forcing Thai soldiers to retaliate.<\/p>\n

Sutthirot Charoenthanasak, district chief of Kabcheing in Surin province, told the Reuters news agency that two people had been killed when Cambodian shelling struck their homes.<\/p>\n

He added that district authorities had evacuated 40,000 civilians from 86 villages near the border to safer locations.<\/p>\n

Thailand\u2019s military said one of six F-16 fighter jets readied to deploy in the border conflict has bombed a military target in Cambodia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have used air power against military targets as planned,\u201d Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters.<\/p>\n

In a situation deteriorating by the hour, Cambodian forces launched attacks on civilian areas in Thailand, including a hospital, causing deaths, Thailand\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Thailand \u201cis prepared to intensify our self-defence measures if Cambodia persists in its armed attack and violations upon Thailand\u2019s sovereignty in accordance with international law and principles,\u201d the ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Cambodia\u2019s Ministry of National Defence said the jets dropped two bombs on a road, and that it \u201cstrongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Cambodian ministry also accused Thailand of attacking first and violating an agreement designed to de-escalate tension.<\/p>\n

It said Cambodian troops had acted in self-defence after coming under attack from Thailand\u2019s army.<\/p>\n

Cambodia\u2019s influential former prime minister, Hun Sen, said in a post on social media that Thailand\u2019s military had shelled two Cambodian provinces bordering Thailand, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear.<\/p>\n

Hun Sen said \u201cthe Cambodian army has no choice but to fight back and counterattack\u201d. He also called for the public to remain calm and not panic-buy rice and other food supplies.<\/p>\n

Long-simmering dispute \u2018exploded\u2019<\/h2>\n

Reporting from Koh Lanta, southern Thailand, Al Jazeera\u2019s Tony Cheng said the dispute \u201chas been simmering for some time but it seems to have exploded today\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand this morning there was a clash between the two militaries. The Thais say the Cambodians fired first, the Cambodians say it was actually the Thais who snuck across the border and started pulling up barbed wire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Royal Thai Embassy in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, said the situation on the border had \u201ccontinuously escalated\u201d and, with clashes likely to \u201cbe prolonged and expand\u201d, urged its nationals to leave Cambodia \u201cas soon as possible\u201d, unless they had urgent reasons to remain.<\/p>\n

\"In
Thai soldiers inspect an area in the Ubon Ratchathani province, which borders Cambodia, where the Thai army said two antipersonnel landmines were found [Handout\/Royal Thai Army via AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thailand, Cambodia downgrade diplomatic relations<\/h2>\n

The latest fighting comes after a Thai soldier sustained injuries on Wednesday and lost his right leg in a landmine explosion, which authorities in Thailand have blamed on Cambodia. Three Thai soldiers were also injured by a mine blast while on a patrol along the disputed border area on July 16.<\/p>\n

Cambodia has denied planting mines, and claims that Thai soldiers have veered off agreed jungle paths and triggered long-buried mines left behind from Cambodia\u2019s decades of civil war.<\/p>\n

Following the latest landmine incident, Thailand\u2019s governing Pheu Thai Party said it had recalled Thailand\u2019s ambassador to Cambodia<\/a> and would expel Cambodia\u2019s ambassador from the country.<\/p>\n

Thailand has also downgraded diplomatic relations with Cambodia, the party said.<\/p>\n

In response, Cambodia said it would withdraw all of its diplomats from Thailand, and ordered all Thai diplomats to leave the country.<\/p>\n

The Cambodian government has also downgraded diplomatic relations with Thailand to the \u201clowest level\u201d, reducing it to the rank of \u201csecond secretary\u201d, according to local news outlet the Phnom Penh Post.<\/p>\n

In May, the long-running border dispute between the two countries boiled over into military clashes that left one Cambodian soldier dead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Border tension has soured relations between the Southeast Asian neighbours, with the two sides trading barbs and tit-for-tat retaliatory measures, including the closure of border crossings.<\/p>\n

Cambodia has also blocked imports of fuel and gas, as well as fruit and vegetables, from Thailand.<\/p>\n

Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817km (508-mile) land border.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Thai F-16 fighter jet has bombed targets in Cambodia, as a simmering border dispute rapidly ignited into fierce clashes, bombing and shelling that have killed at least nine civilians in Thailand and were preceded by a diplomatic meltdown. Thailand and Cambodia each blamed the other for the new outbreak of fighting that erupted early … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}