Three Thai civilians were killed as heavy fighting flared again along Thailand’s border with Cambodia, the Thai military said Thursday, marking the first civilian deaths since clashes resumed.
The renewed hostilities erupted after a Sunday skirmish that wounded two Thai soldiers and shattered a U.S.-brokered cease-fire backed by President Donald Trump. The truce had paused five days of clashes in July over longstanding territorial disputes.
Roughly two dozen people have been killed in the latest wave of violence, and hundreds of thousands on both sides of the frontier have fled to temporary shelters or sought refuge with relatives.
In a statement, the Thai army said Cambodian forces launched artillery and mortar attacks late Wednesday on Thai positions. Thai troops returned fire with similar heavy weapons, destroying several enemy trucks and damaging other equipment, the statement said.
Cambodia’s Fresh News online outlet, which often reflects government positions, reported that artillery exchanges continued Thursday morning.
The fighting has drawn international concern, including from Pope Leo XIV, who told an audience at the Vatican that he was “deeply saddened by the news of the renewed conflict.”
“There have been casualties, including among civilians, and thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes. I express my closeness in prayer to these dear peoples,” he said Wednesday.
The original cease-fire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through after pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in greater detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite the deal to halt fighting, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war, and minor cross-border violence persisted. Cambodia complained that Thailand did not return 18 soldiers it captured as the cease-fire was taking effect, while Thailand protested after soldiers patrolling the frontier were wounded by land mines it alleges were newly laid by Cambodia. Cambodia insisted the mines were remnants of its civil war, which ended in 1999.
Trump said he expected to speak by phone with the two leaders on Thursday and expressed confidence he could persuade both sides to stop the fighting.
“I think I can get them to stop fighting. Who else can do that?” Trump said Wednesday in an exchange with reporters, during which he also repeated his exaggerated claim of settling eight wars around the world since his return to the White House. “Every once in a while, one will flame up again and I have to put out that little flame.”
The U.S. had yet to contact Thailand following Trump’s remarks, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters in Bangkok on Thursday.
Anutin, reflecting nationalist public sentiment, has repeatedly vowed to continue fighting until Thailand’s sovereignty and security are assured.
In remarks Wednesday, he did not rule out negotiations with Cambodia but said he would not do so solely at Trump’s request.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30 to 40 kilometers (19 to 25 miles).
According to data collected by public broadcaster Thai PBS, at least six Thai soldiers who died were killed by rocket shrapnel.
The Thai army’s northeastern regional command said Cambodian forces by mid-afternoon Wednesday had fired 79 BM-21 salvos containing 3,160 rockets, launched artillery 122 times and used bomb-dropping drones in 63 attacks.
It said a hospital in Surin province was evacuated after rockets landed about 500 meters (550 yards) away.
The army also said it destroyed a tall crane on a hill held by Cambodia near the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple, alleging it housed electronic and optical devices used for military command and control.
Thailand’s military said Thursday the dead include nine soldiers and three civilians, who it said were killed while being evacuated. More than 120 troops have been wounded.
Cambodia has said nine civilians, including a baby, have been killed and 46 others wounded.
The U.N. cultural agency UNESCO on Wednesday expressed “strong concern” about fighting near the Preah Vihear temple, which is designated as a World Heritage site.
“UNESCO stands ready to provide the necessary technical assistance to ensure the protection of cultural property and implement any necessary safeguarding measures as soon as conditions allow,” it said.
The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of rivalry over competing territorial claims, much of it stemming from a 1907 map drawn while Cambodia was under French colonial rule. Thailand argues the map is inaccurate. Tensions were heightened by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia – a decision that still angers many Thais.
