Thailand stirred an F-16 combat plane to bombard targets in Cambodia on Thursday after the artillery volley on both sides killed at least 11 civilians, while border tension boasted in a rare armed conflict between Southeast Asia countries.
Both blamed each other for starting a morning clash in an area in dispute of the border, which quickly intensified from the fire of small arms to a heavy bombing in at least six locations 209 kilometers away along a border where sovereignty has been disputed for more than a century.
Thailand placed six F-16 combat planes in a rare combat deployment, one of which was mobilized to attack a Camboyan military objective, among the measures the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia called “reckless and brutal military aggression.”
Thailand’s army said the use of air power was to attack precisely.
The worst fight between countries in 13 years occurred after Thailand on Wednesday reminded its ambassador to Phnom Penh and expelled the envoy of Cambodia, in response to a second Thai soldier who lost a limb due to a terrestrial mine that Bangkok claimed that the rival troops had recently put.
The two countries have prepared for conflicts since the murder of a Cambodian soldier at the end of May during a brief skirmish, with troops reinforced on both sides of the border in the midst of a complete diplomatic crisis that led to the fragile coalition government of Thailand to the edge of the collapse.
Thailand said there were 12 deaths in three Thai provinces, 11 of them civilians, including an eight -year -old boy. The authorities said 31 people were injured on Thursday. The number of Cambodian victims was not clear.
“We condemn this, using heavy weapons without a clear objective, outside the conflict areas … the use of force and did not adhere to international law,” the interim prime minister of Thailand, Phumtham Wechayachai, told journalists.
“We continued committed to peaceful means and there should be discussions, but what happened was a provocation and we had to defend ourselves.”
‘Premeditated military aggression’
Thailand Minister of Health, Somsak Thepsuthin, told journalists that a hospital was beaten by bombing in the province of Surin, an attack that said it should be considered “a war crime.”
The officials of the Cambodian government, defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a press conference did not give signs of sustained deaths or any estimate of the number of evacuated persons.
In a letter to Pakistan, the current president of the United Nations Security Council, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet, urged the body to convene a meeting to stop what he called “not caused and premeditated military aggression” by Thailand in violation of international law.
As the confrontations extended to different border areas, Thai villagers, including children and the elderly, fled to concrete shelters fortified with sandbags and cars tires.
“How many rounds have shoot Thai public transmission service While hiding in the shelter when shots and explosions were heard in the background.
Video images showed a thick black smoke plume that rose from a service station in the neighboring province of Sisket, while firefighters rushed to extinguish the fire.
Thailand has evacuated more than 40,000 people from the border areas, transferring many to temporary shelters, where older people and young children gathered in floor mats while the authorities prepared meals and discharged food and bottled water from the trucks.
“I am worried about my children,” said Suphap Wongwai, an evacuated in the province of Surin. “My children are scared and crying.”
Decades of disputes
Thailand and Cambodia have discussed for decades for the jurisdiction of several points not highlighted along its 817 km terrestrial border, with the property of the ancient Hindu temples that Gimen and the eleventh century prior to central clothing for disputes.
Preah Vihear was granted to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice (ICI) in 1962, but the tension increased in 2008 after Cambodia tried to list it as a Unesco World Heritage site.
That led to skames for several years and at least a dozen deaths.
Cambodia in June said he had asked CIJ to solve his disputes with Thailand, which says he has never recognized the court jurisdiction and prefers a bilateral approach.
The use of Thailand from a combat plane underlines its military advantage over Cambodia in terms of size and defense hardware range.
The confrontations have caused nervousness in the region, with the Philippines and Vietnam asking for restriction and China expressing their willingness to play a role in promoting decallation.
The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, president of the Association of Nations of Southeast Asia, of which Thailand and Cambodia are members, said he would talk to the leaders of both countries.
“The least we can expect from them is simply retiring and, hopefully, trying to go into negotiations,” said Anwar.
The clashes exploded hours after a reduction in diplomatic relations between the two countries after a series of terrestrial mines injuries to the Thai soldiers that patrol the border areas.
Thailand accused Cambodia of placing the mines recently, that Phnom Penh dismissed as unfounded.
Mining groups estimate up to 4-6 million land mines remain in Cambodia after years of civil war.
Terrestrial mines
The clashes began early Thursday near the disputed temple of Ta Gimida Thom along the eastern border between Cambodia and Thailand, about 360 km from the Thai Bangkok capital.
“The artillery shell fell into the houses of people,” said Sutthirot Charoenthanasak, Kabcheing district head in the province of Surin Reutersdescribing the shot on the Cambodian side.
“Two people have died,” he said, adding that the district authorities had evacuated 40,000 civilians from 86 villages near the border to safer places.
Thailand’s army said Cambodia deployed a surveillance drone before sending heavy weapons to an area near the temple.
The Cambodian troops opened fire and two Thai soldiers were injured, said a Thai army spokesman, adding that Cambodia had used multiple weapons, including rocket launchers.
However, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of Cambodia said there had been an incursion not caused by Thai troops and the Cambodian forces had responded in self -defense.
Thailand’s interim prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, said the situation was delicate. “We have to be careful,” he told reporters. “We will continue international law.”
An attempt by Thai Prime Minister Paetongtran Shinawatra to resolve recent tensions through a call with the influential former Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, whose content leaked, initiated a political storm in Thailand, which led him to his suspension a court.
Hun Sen said in a Facebook post that two Cambodian provinces had been bombarded by the Thai army.
