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Manila Bulletin devider World devider Thailand and Cambodia exchange fire in clashes that kill at least 9 civilians

Thailand and Cambodia exchange fire in clashes that kill at least 9 civilians

Published Jul 24, 2025 01:59 pm

At A Glance

  • Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesperson for the Thai Defense Ministry, said three other civilians, including a 5-year-old boy, were seriously injured after Cambodia fired shots into a residential area in Thailand's Surin province.
This photo released by the Royal Thai Army, shows an injured Thai soldier who stepped on a land mine being airlifted to a hospital in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (The Royal Thai Army via AP)
This photo released by the Royal Thai Army, shows an injured Thai soldier who stepped on a land mine being airlifted to a hospital in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (The Royal Thai Army via AP)
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia exchanged fire on the border Thursday in a sharp escalation of their conflict that killed at least nine civilians.
The Thai army said the most casualties occurred in Si Sa Ket province, where six people were killed after shots were fired at a gas station. At least 14 people were injured in three border provinces.
Relations between the Southeast Asian neighbors have deteriorated sharply since an armed confrontation in May that killed a Cambodian soldier. Nationalist passions on both sides have further inflamed the situation.
Thailand closed northeastern border crossings with Cambodia and said Wednesday it was withdrawing its ambassador and expelling the Cambodian ambassador to protest a land mine blast in which a Thai soldier lost a leg.
Cambodia responded Thursday that it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand to their lowest level and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok.
Relations between the Southeast Asian neighbors have deteriorated sharply since May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in an armed confrontation in one of several small patches of land both countries claim as their own territory.
Thailand said at least one civilian was killed amid fresh clashes Thursday in multiple contested border areas with Cambodia.
The Thai army said it has launched airstrikes on ground targets in Cambodia. The Cambodian Defense Ministry said Thailand's army used jets to drop bombs on a road near the ancient Preah Vihear temple.
Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesperson for the Thai Defense Ministry, said three other civilians, including a 5-year-old boy, were seriously injured after Cambodia fired shots into a residential area in Thailand's Surin province.
Clashes are ongoing in at least six areas along the border, Surasant said. The first clash Thursday morning happened in an area near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Surin and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province.
Both Thailand and Cambodia accused each other of opening fire first.
A livestream video from Thailand's side showed people running from their homes and hiding in a concrete bunker Thursday morning as explosions sounded.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said Thailand attacked Cambodian army positions at Ta Muen Thom temple and Ta Krabey temple in Oddar Meanchey and expanded to the area along Cambodia's Preah Vihear province and Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province.
"Cambodia has always maintained a position of peaceful resolution of problems, but in this case, we have no choice but to respond with armed force against armed aggression," he said.
Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the Foreign Ministry would make an official protest to Cambodia, and further measures would be considered.
Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that it demanded all Thai diplomatic staff leave Cambodia and was recalling Cambodia staffers at the embassy in Bangkok.
Many border checkpoints had already been closed by one side or the other or operated with restrictions after relations between the neighbors deteriorated following an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed in one of the contested areas.

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