THAILAND has launched airstrikes against Cambodian positions along their disputed border as thousands were forced to flee their homes.
The strikes are now threatening to unravel the Trump-brokered peace deal struck just weeks ago reignite one of Southeast Asia’s most explosive border clashes.
Tens of thousands of residents have piled into tractors, pick-ups and makeshift convoys, with more than 385,000 people ordered to evacuate in Thailand alone and over 1,100 Cambodian families pushed from their homes.
The Thai military said it struck “military targets in several areas to suppress Cambodian supporting fire attacks” after what it called a fatal assault by Cambodian forces in the early hours of Monday.
One Thai soldier was killed and eight wounded, Thai army spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree said, insisting Cambodian troops opened fire first.
He said: “The airstrikes were highly precise and focused only on military targets near the frontline.
“It did not impact the civilians.”
Cambodia rejected that claim, accusing Thailand of launching dawn attacks in Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey provinces after days of what it called provocative actions.
Defence ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata said: “Cambodia urges that Thailand immediately stop all hostile activities that threaten peace and stability in the region.”
Cambodia’s influential former prime minister Hun Sen went even further, calling Thai forces “aggressors” and warning commanders that a “red line for responding has already been set.”
Local authorities in Oddar Meanchey have already reported three civilians to be seriously injured.
And Cambodia’s Education Ministry ordered schools along the border closed, with footage showing students rushing out of classrooms to meet their parents.
Residents described the fighting as the fiercest since July.
Phichet Pholkoet, speaking from Thailand’s Ban Kruat district, said: “It startled me. The explosions were very clear. Boom boom!”
Across the border, opposition politician Meach Sovannara said artillery could be heard from Samroang town: “I heard the artillery shelling.”
Monday’s confrontation is the biggest rattle yet in the fragile ceasefire signed in October.
The deal was presided over by President Donald Trump and billed as a landmark step toward ending a century-old border dispute.
Thailand suspended implementation of the agreement last month after a soldier was maimed by a landmine.
Cambodia insists it remains committed to the deal.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul defended the military response, saying: “Thailand has never wished for violence.
“I’d like to reiterate that Thailand has never initiated a fight or an invasion, but will never tolerate a violation of its sovereignty.”
Thailand’s Air Force said Cambodia had “mobilised heavy weaponry, repositioned combat units and prepared support elements that could escalate military operations,” prompting the use of air power “to deter and reduce Cambodia’s military capabilities.”
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who helped broker earlier ceasefire efforts, urged both governments to “exercise maximum restraint”.
He warned that “the renewed fighting risks unravelling the careful work that has gone into stabilising relations between the two neighbours.”
This latest eruption comes after months of rising tensions triggered by a border shooting in May, tit-for-tat economic measures, and July’s five-day conflict that killed more than 40 people and displaced 300,000.
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