Border tensions reignite as Thailand launches airstrikes in Cambodia

Border tensions reignite as Thailand launches airstrikes in Cambodia on Monday when new fighting erupted along the disputed frontier, as both sides blamed each other for breaking their ceasefire.

Thailand said its forces carried out strikes as fighting spread across several points of the border, following mutual accusations that each side had violated a ceasefire brokered by the U.S. President Donald Trump. 

A Thai army spokesperson said one Thai soldier was killed and eight were wounded when hostilities escalated around 5 a.m. local time, prompting the call for air support on Cambodian military positions.

Thailand’s Air Force said Cambodia had mobilised heavy weapons, moved combat units, and prepared support elements that could raise the level of conflict.

“These developments prompted the use of air power to deter and reduce Cambodia’s military capabilities,” it said.

Cambodia’s defence ministry said Thai forces launched attacks at dawn on two of its positions after days of what it described as provocative actions. It said Cambodian troops did not respond. Former leader Hun Sen, father of current prime minister Hun Manet, accused Thailand’s military of acting as “aggressors” and urged Cambodian troops to show restraint.
 

“The red line for responding has already been set,” Hun Sen said. “I urge commanders at all levels to educate all officers and soldiers accordingly.”

A senior provincial official said three Cambodian civilians had been seriously injured. Cambodia continued to report that its forces had not retaliated.

The fighting is the latest flare-up in a long-running border dispute that previously erupted into a five-day conflict in July, before a ceasefire was negotiated by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and witnessed by Trump. Anwar, who chairs ASEAN, called for both sides to remain calm and keep communication open.
“The renewed fighting risks unravelling the careful work that has gone into stabilising relations between the two neighbours,” he said on X.

Cross-border airstrikes are unusual in Southeast Asia, where military clashes between neighbours have been rare in recent decades.

Residents on both sides described hearing gunfire and explosions early Monday. In Thailand, authorities said more than 385,000 civilians across four border districts were being evacuated, with over 35,000 already in temporary shelters. In Cambodia, opposition politician Meach Sovannara said residents were also moving away from the frontier, with authorities reporting that more than 1,100 families in Oddar Meanchey Province had been evacuated.

The July conflict left at least 48 people dead and displaced about 300,000 as both sides exchanged rockets and artillery fire. Thailand and Cambodia have disputed the boundaries along their 817-km border for more than a century, with occasional spikes in violence, including a weeklong exchange in 2011.

Tensions rose again in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed during a brief clash, leading to further diplomatic and military confrontations. Although Anwar and Trump helped secure a ceasefire in October, Thailand suspended its implementation last month after a landmine blast severely injured one of its soldiers. 

Thailand continues to accuse Cambodia of planting new landmines, a charge Phnom Penh denies. Reuters previously reported that some mines found in the area were likely newly laid, based on expert analysis of materials shared by Thailand’s military.

(Reuters)

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