Surin, Thailand:
Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged heavy artillery fire for a second day on Friday while border fighting intensified and spread, killing at least 20 people and deractive more than 138,000 villagers in the worst fights between the neighbors of Southeast Asia in 13 years.
The two parties blamed themselves for starting the conflict and Friday reached rhetoric. The Prime Minister of Cambodia said that Thailand had accepted a Malaysian cease-fire proposal, but then fell back, while his Thai counterpart warned that clashes “could develop at war”.
Thailand accused Cambodia of having deliberately attacked civilians and Cambodia condemned Thailand for having used cluster ammunition, controversial and largely convicted. The acting Prime Minister of Thailand, Phumtham Wechayachai, said that Cambodia had attacked several fronts.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in an article on social networks that he had accepted a cease-fire proposed by his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim, president of the Anase Regional Bloc, who had informed him that Phumtham had also accepted.
“However, it is regrettable that a little more than an hour later, the Thai part informed that they had reversed their position,” said Hun Manet. Thailand later said that it was in principle in principle with the idea of a cease-fire and consider it, but that it must be based on “appropriate conditions on the ground”.
Throughout the day, “Cambodian forces have continued their blind attacks,” said the Thai Foreign Affairs in an article on X. “Cambodia’s actions demonstrate a lack of good faith and continue to place civilians in danger.”
The fighting went before dawn Friday, with clashes reported in 12 places, against six Thursday, according to the Army of Thailand. He accused Cambodia of using BM-21 Russian manufacturing artillery and rockets to attack areas with schools and hospitals.
“The deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime and those responsible must be brought to justice.” This completely blamed the government of Phnom Penh, who, according to him, was led by Hun Sen, former influential Prime Minister of nearly four decades and the father of Hun Manet.
In the province of Thailand, the province of Surin, intermittent explosions could be heard, while the soldiers gathered traffic on a rural road along which artillery pistols were loaded and drawn successively, emitting orange flashes, noisy explosions and gray smoke.
The fighting started early Thursday, quickly spending light weapons fire to heavy bombing in several areas at 210 km along a border where sovereignty has been challenged for more than a century. Thailand has also deployed an F-16 fighter plane to strike a Cambodian military target.
Cambodia, which does not have a fighter plane and less defense and personnel equipment, has urged the Security Council to approach “the unlikely military assault on Thailand”. Two senior Thai officials said Bangkok had received mediation offers from the United States, Malaysia and China, but they preferred bilateral mechanisms.
Cambodia said that the bombing of Thailand had caused “significant and visible damage” at the Preah Vihear temple in the 11th century, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that the two countries have been claiming for decades. The army of Thailand described the allegation of “a clear distortion of the facts”.
The trigger for the conflict was Thailand recalling his ambassador to Phnom Penh and expeling Cambodia’s envoy on Wednesday, in response to a second Thai soldier losing a member in a mine who affirmed by Bangkok recently by rival troops. Cambodia denied this.
The number of deaths in Thailand went to 19 years on Friday, 13 of civilians, with 62 people injured. The government of Cambodia has not made any victim, but a provincial official of Oddar Meanchey said that a 70 -year -old man had been killed and five more injured.
More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from the border regions of Thailand, said its Ministry of Health. Thailand has prepared nearly 300 installations for evacuated, including more in shelters in the province of Surin after hearing bombings. The two countries share an 800 -kilometer border.
