Thailand and Cambodia have intensified fighting in one of the fiercest escalations in more than a decade, despite calls from the region and beyond for an immediate ceasefire in a border conflict that has killed at least 16 people.
Thailand's military reported pre-dawn attacks in Ubon Ratchathani and Surin provinces and said Cambodia had used artillery and Russian-made BM-21 rocket systems. Authorities said 100,000 people had been evacuated from conflict areas on the Thai side, A2 CNN reports.
"Cambodian forces have been conducting sustained bombardments using heavy weapons, field artillery and BM-21 rocket systems," the Thai military said in a statement. "Thai forces have responded with appropriate supporting fire in accordance with the tactical situation."
Both sides blamed each other for starting the conflict in a disputed border area, which quickly escalated into heavy shelling in at least six places along a border where sovereignty has been disputed for more than a century.
The fighting erupted on Thursday just hours after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Phnom Penh last night and expelled Cambodia's envoy, in response to the loss of a limb by a second Thai soldier from a landmine that Bangkok claimed was recently planted by rival troops. Cambodia has dismissed this as baseless.
Thailand had deployed six F-16 fighter jets on Thursday in a rare combat deployment, one of which was mobilized to strike a Cambodian military target, among measures that Cambodia called "reckless and brutal military aggression."
Thailand's use of an F-16 underscores its military advantage over Cambodia, which has no fighter jets and significantly fewer defense equipment and personnel, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. (A2 Televizion)
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