(Banteay Meanchey) Thailand announced on Saturday the continuation of its military operations against Cambodia, despite assurances from US President Donald Trump that the two neighboring Southeast Asian countries had agreed to a ceasefire.
Updated yesterday at
“Thailand will continue to take military action until we believe that our territory and our people are no longer threatened,” Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Facebook.
“Our actions this morning have already spoken volumes,” he added, with Thai military authorities confirming “responses” on Cambodian targets at 5:50 a.m. For its part, the Cambodian Ministry of Defense affirmed on X that “Thai armed forces used two F-16 fighter jets to drop seven bombs” on several targets.
After a first episode of violence in July, border clashes this week between the two member countries of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) left at least 20 dead and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee on both sides.
The announcement of the continuation of hostilities comes a few hours after Donald Trump assured that Bangkok and Phnom Penh, who have been fighting over pieces of territory for decades, had agreed to silence the guns.
“I had an excellent conversation this morning with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Manet, about the very unfortunate resurgence of their long-running war. They agreed to STOP all shooting this evening and to return to the initial peace agreement concluded with me, and with them, with the help of the great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” the American president wrote Friday evening on his Truth Social network.
“Both countries are ready for PEACE and continued trade with the United States of America,” Mr. Trump added.
Earlier, the Thai Prime Minister had affirmed, after his telephone conversation with Trump, that it was necessary to “announce to the whole world that Cambodia will respect the ceasefire”.
PHOTO LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Refugees are crowded into a shelter in Thailand’s border province of Buriram.
“Peaceful means”
“It is the one who violated the agreement who must resolve the situation, and not the one who suffered it,” added Mr. Anutin, who dissolved the Thai Parliament on Friday, paving the way for elections in early 2026.
“Cambodia has always adhered to peaceful means to resolve disputes,” his Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet said on Saturday in a message published on Facebook.
He added that he suggested the United States and Malaysia use their intelligence capabilities “to verify which side opened fire first” on December 7.
In July, a first episode of violence left 43 dead in five days and forced some 300,000 people to evacuate, before a ceasefire under the aegis of the United States, China and Malaysia, which holds the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian States.
Thailand and Cambodia are arguing over the sovereignty of pieces of territory, where temples of the Khmer Empire stand, along their border drawn at the beginning of the 20th century during the French colonial period.
They co-signed a ceasefire agreement on October 26, under the aegis of Donald Trump.
But Bangkok suspended it a few weeks later after a land mine explosion injured several of its soldiers.
