Cambodia has called for an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities with Thailand, its UN representative said. It comes as the two nations fought each other for a second consecutive day in violent clashes. Thailand also expressed interest in beginning negotiations on peace.
What started out to be a decades-long border conflict has now escalated into fierce military fighting, using fighter planes, heavy guns, tanks, and ground soldiers. The conflict was so grave that the UN Security Council held an emergency session on Friday.
Clashes broke out on Thursday around the ancient Preah Vihear and Prasat Ta Muen Thom temples, quickly erupting into a bloody exchange of rockets and artillery. Cambodia’s Defence Ministry reported that at least 13 people were killed, including 8 soldiers, and more than 35,000 civilians had to evacuate.
On the Thai side, authorities reported 15 deaths — 14 civilians and 1 soldier — and said more than 138,000 people had been evacuated from nearby areas. Forty-six were seriously hurt, including 15 soldiers.
During a UN Security Council session, Thailand blamed Cambodia for launching brutal and indiscriminate attacks, and demanded that all violence be brought to an immediate halt. Cambodia refuted initiating the combat and highlighted that its army is smaller and less sophisticated compared to Thailand’s.
Disputes between the two countries have been ongoing for decades, primarily over the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, which sits atop a cliff in the Dangrek Mountains. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared the temple belonged to Cambodia in 1962, from a map the French created in 1907. Thailand, however, continues to protest an approximately 4.6 sq km border zone around the temple.
The dispute reignited in 2008 when Cambodia had the temple declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and this ignited fatal clashes in 2011. Despite the ICJ reaffirming Cambodia’s claim in a ruling in 2013, Thailand never absolutely acknowledged the verdict.
Between 2008 and 2011, the two nations clashed several times, causing at least 28 deaths and displacing thousands of individuals. A 2013 decision by a UN court kept the nations at peace for over 10 years. But tensions recurred in May this year when a Cambodian soldier died in another skirmish, reinitiating the conflict.`
