Thailand and Cambodia have reported new fighting in their ongoing border conflict, the first talks between the two sides since the latest outbreak of violence.
Clashes broke out in the border provinces of Sisaket and Surin, Thai media reported on Wednesday. Thai forces responded to Cambodian BM-21 rocket attacks with artillery, tank fire, and drones.
Recommended Stories
4-item listend of list
One Thai soldier was wounded in the Pha Mo I Deng-Hui Ta Maria area of Sisaket province, the Thai military said, before the Thai military responded by attacking more than 19 Cambodian military targets.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence said Thai forces launched airstrikes on the Banan district of the northwestern border province of Battambang, dropping four bombs on a civilian residential area.
Cambodia’s Education Ministry has also released a video showing that there was an atmosphere of panic in a school in the province and students were running away after the airstrike.
Additionally, the ministry said two civilians were wounded by Thai shelling in Banteay Meanchey province, the Khmer Times reported.
conversation begins
The latest fight took place just before the start of a meeting of defence officials on Wednesday at the Ban Pakkar-Pailin border between the two countries.
This is the first talk between the two sides since renewed clashes on December 7 left more than 40 people dead and nearly a million displaced, according to official counts.
Following a regional effort to end the fighting, the two sides agreed on Monday to hold talks within the framework of the existing bilateral border committee, the Cambodia-Thailand General Border Committee.
Reporting from Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, Al Jazeera’s Asad Baig said the meeting was ongoing, with ASEAN countries acting as observers, but no major breakthroughs were expected.
“It is essential to be clear about what this meeting is and what it is not. “It’s between defence and military officials, not between politicians,” he said.
“This is not a forum where a ceasefire can be agreed upon or signed.”
He stated that the talks will primarily focus on stabilising the situation, clarifying events between the parties, and maintaining open lines of communication.
Any agreement on a ceasefire must come from political leaders in Bangkok and Phnom Penh, he said, “and that’s where external pressure comes in.”
America, China and ASEAN countries were talking to both the countries and urging resolution of the conflict.
However, he added, “Accusations continue to plague both sides.”
Thailand and Cambodia have been engaged in daily exchanges of rocket and artillery fire along their 817 km (508 mile) land border following the breakdown of a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Malaysia earlier this month that ended five days of fighting in July.
The conflict stems from a colonial-era demarcation of their 800 km (500 mi) border and a territorial dispute over ancient temple ruins located on the border.
Each side has blamed the other for provoking renewed fighting, claiming self-defence and accusing it of attacks on civilians.
Thailand is accused of breaking Hindu idols.
Meanwhile, a Cambodian official has accused Thailand of destroying a Hindu statue in the disputed border area and condemned the destruction of objects of religious importance.
Kim Chanpanha, a government spokesman in the border province of Preah Vihear, said the Vishnu statue, built in 2014, was demolished by Thai forces on Monday.
Chanpanha declared, “We condemn the destruction of ancient temples and statues revered by Buddhist and Hindu followers.”
Videos showing the statue being demolished using a backhoe loader circulated on social media.
The Thai military has not commented on the incident but issued a statement rejecting Cambodian claims that it was using cluster munitions with no intention of harming civilians.
The statement said the cluster munitions were dual-purpose artillery shells used against military targets, in line with the principles of “military necessity” and “proportionality.”
It said the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which prohibits signatories from using such weapons, was not in force because neither Thailand nor Cambodia was a party to the agreement.
