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Thailand has deployed F-16 fighter jets to bomb military targets in Cambodia after accusing its neighbour of launching attacks that it said resulted in civilian deaths.
Both sides accuse the other of initiating fire across their shared border on Thursday, reigniting the long-running territorial dispute. These clashes escalated a weeks-long dispute that has already triggered political turmoil in Thailand and led both sides to recall their ambassadors.
“All Thai F-16s have returned home safely and intact, after a rapid deployment to drop bombs on Cambodian battalions,” Thailand’s second army region said in a Facebook post.
Cambodia had deployed two BM-21 rocket launchers early on Thursday in civilian areas, injuring three Thai civilians, said a spokesperson for Thailand’s foreign ministry.
A separate statement from the ministry said Cambodia had hit non-military locations, including a hospital, “resulting in civilian casualties and fatalities”.
“The Royal Thai Government calls upon Cambodia to take responsibility for the incidents that have occurred, cease attacks against civilian and military targets, and stop all actions that violate Thailand’s sovereignty,” the statement said.
Bangkok “is prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed attack and violations upon Thailand’s sovereignty in accordance with international law and principles,” it said. Thailand also closed its border with Cambodia.
The countries have been embroiled in tensions since May when a Cambodian soldier was killed at the border in an exchange of fire. Authorities on both sides threatened to cut off trade and electricity flows. Fighting erupted again after Thailand blamed Cambodia for laying landmines that it said had injured five Thai soldiers on Wednesday.
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet said that Thai soldiers initiated the fighting. “In this situation, we have no choice but to respond with military force against the armed aggression,” he said in a statement.
The landmine explosion, which Thailand said was the second such incident in a week, led the government to expel Cambodia’s envoy to Bangkok and recall its own ambassador.
Cambodia rejected the allegations that the landmines were newly laid, pointing to leftover unexploded mines from a civil war. It also recalled its embassy staff from Bangkok. Both countries have downgraded their diplomatic relations with each other.
In June, then Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called Hun Sen, Cambodia’s influential former leader and the father of Hun Manet, in a bid to smooth the relationship. But the effort backfired after Hun Sen leaked a recording of the call, resulting in her suspension and further damage to ties between the two countries.
In the call, Paetongtarn referred to the former Cambodian leader deferentially as “uncle” and appeared to blame the Thai military for aggravating the border dispute. Critics accused her of taking a conciliatory tone that undermined Thailand’s national interests.
Paetongtarn later apologised and said her remarks were a negotiating tactic. She has since been suspended by the Thai constitutional court as it deliberates whether to remove her from office for ethical violations.
