Half a million evacuated on Thai-Cambodia border as Trump makes diplomatic push to end fighting | Cambodia
Half a million evacuees in Cambodia and Thailand were sheltering in pagodas, schools and other safe havens on Wednesday after fleeing fresh border clashes while US president Donald Trump vowed to intercede to stop the fighting.
At least 15 people, including Thai soldiers and Cambodian civilians, have been killed in the latest hostilities, officials said, while more than 500,000 people have fled border areas near where jets, tanks and drones were waging battle.
“Authorities say it is not safe anymore,” said Seut Soeung, 30, as she rested at a roadside with her family as vehicles loaded with people, dogs and clothes passed by.
A policeman who asked not to be named said the displaced families were being evacuated from temple grounds due to safety concerns after a few Thai jets flew nearby.
Thailand and Cambodia dispute the colonial-era demarcation of their 800km (500-mile) frontier, where competing claims to historic temples have spilled over into armed conflict.
This week’s clashes are the deadliest since five days of fighting in July that killed dozens before a shaky truce was agreed, after intervention by Trump.
Both sides blame the other for reigniting the conflict, which has expanded to five provinces of both Thailand and Cambodia.
A Thai defence ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that more than 400,000 civilians have been evacuated to shelters.
Sugarcane farmer Niam Poda fled her home – just 5km from the frontier – in Thailand’s border province of Sa Kaeo for the second time in five months.
The 62-year-old said she was doing laundry on Monday when a loud explosion rang out.
“I just had to run for my life as soon as I could,” she told AFP at an evacuation centre, adding that she had left her medicines behind.
“Whatever happens next, I hope peace will come so I can go back to caring for my sugarcane in peace,” she added.
In Washington, Trump told reporters he was due to call the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Thursday, and predicted he could settle the hostilities “pretty quickly”.
“I think I can get them to stop fighting. Who else can do that?” Trump said on Wednesday.
The US, China and Malaysia, as chair of the regional bloc Asean, brokered a ceasefire back in July.
In October, Trump backed a follow-on joint declaration, touting new trade deals with Thailand and Cambodia after they agreed to prolong their truce.
But Thailand suspended the agreement the following month.
The Thai military announced an overnight curfew from 7pm to 5am in parts of Sa Kaeo beginning on Wednesday night.
In Cambodia, more than 101,000 people have been evacuated to shelters and relatives’ homes, the defence ministry spokesperson, Maly Socheata, told reporters.
“The Thai army fired indiscriminately into civilian areas and schools and especially shelled Ta Krabey temple,” she said, calling the contested border temple a “sacred site of Cambodia”.
Cambodia’s interior ministry gave an updated death toll of 10 civilians. Maly Socheata earlier said an infant was among those killed.
The Thai army, meanwhile, said Cambodian forces fired rockets early on Wednesday that landed in the vicinity of the Phanom Dong Rak hospital in Surin province – which was struck in the fighting in July.
Cambodia withdrew on Wednesday from the Southeast Asian Games taking place in Thailand, citing safety concerns for its athletes.
The Thailand foreign ministry spokesperson, Nikorndej Balankura, told reporters on Wednesday that the fighting would eventually end through talks, but now was not the time for dialogue.
“If any third country wants to mediate, Thailand can’t accept that at this stage because the line has been crossed,” he said.
“Thai citizens have been killed and we need to ensure there is enough trust before talks can begin.”
