A Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia as weeks of tensions over a border dispute escalated into clashes that have killed at least two civilians.
Of the six F-16 fighter jets that Thailand prepared to deploy along the disputed border, one of the planes fired into Cambodia and destroyed a military target, the Thai military said, writes A2.
Both countries accused each other of starting the clash on Thursday.
"We have used air power against military targets as planned," a Thai military spokesman told reporters. Thailand also closed its border with Cambodia.
Cambodia's Defense Ministry said the planes dropped two bombs on a road and that it "strongly condemns the reckless and brutal military aggression of the Kingdom of Thailand against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia."
The clashes came after Thailand summoned its ambassador to Cambodia on Wednesday and said it would expel Cambodia's envoy to Bangkok, after a second Thai soldier in a week lost a limb to a landmine that Bangkok claimed was recently placed in the disputed area.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry said Cambodian troops fired "heavy artillery" at a Thai military base on Thursday morning and also targeted civilian areas, including a hospital, leading to civilian casualties.
"The Royal Thai Government is prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed attack and violations of Thailand's sovereignty," the ministry said in a statement.
Thai residents, including children and the elderly, ran to concrete shelters fortified with sandbags and car tires in the border province of Surin.
"How many bullets were fired? Countless," an unidentified woman told the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) as she hid in the shelter, as gunshots and explosions rang out intermittently in the background.
Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said Thailand's airstrikes were "unprovoked" and called on its neighbor to withdraw its forces and "refrain from any further provocative actions that could escalate the situation." (A2 Televizion)
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