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US President Donald Trump has said he would call the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia after armed clashes between the south-east Asian countries broke out this week, displacing about 500,000 people.
Thai and Cambodian forces resumed fighting on Monday in multiple locations along their shared 800km border, the worst outbreak between the neighbours since a five-day conflict in July that killed at least 48 people.
Each side has accused the other of initiating hostilities and of targeting civilians, as a Trump-brokered truce that had paused the July conflict broke down. Thailand has evacuated more than 400,000 people, while Cambodia has evacuated 100,000, officials said.
In July, Trump had threatened to raise tariffs on the export-dependent countries if they did not stop fighting, forcing them to reach a ceasefire.
In his first comments since the resumption of the conflict, Trump said late on Tuesday that he would call both countries.
“Tomorrow I have to make a phone call,” Trump said at an event in Pennsylvania. “Who else could say ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries’.
“We are making peace through strength,” he added.
The US state department had this week urged Thailand and Cambodia to return to “de-escalatory measures” outlined in a peace accord signed by the two countries in Trump’s presence in October in Malaysia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Despite a push by the US and Malaysia to revive the ceasefire, tensions continued to escalate on Wednesday.
Cambodia withdrew its delegation from the Southeast Asian Games, which opened on Tuesday in Thailand, citing safety concerns from the families of competing athletes.
Its defence ministry said seven civilians had been killed and 20 injured by Thai shelling.
Thai officials said four soldiers have been killed and 68 injured.
This week’s clashes reignited a border dispute that has dragged on for more than a century. Thailand and Cambodia have competing territorial claims over several temples and surrounding areas.
One of the biggest flashpoints is the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, which Cambodia claims based on a 1907 map created during French colonial rule.
The International Court of Justice awarded jurisdiction of the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but Thailand has continued to maintain a military presence in the area.
Tensions had continued to simmer following the October peace deal. Last month, Thailand unilaterally scrapped the agreement, accusing Cambodia of laying new landmines along the border that injured several of its soldiers. Cambodia rejected that allegations.
