Tensions Flare Between Thailand and Cambodia After Gunfight: Fears of a Repeat of July's Bloody Clashes

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The fragile ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia, which had been maintained with difficulty since the large-scale bloody clashes in July, was broken after a small-scale skirmish erupted between the two countries' militaries in the border area. As both sides are blaming each other for the incident, tensions in the region are once again rising.

A small-scale clash between Thailand and Cambodia occurred two months after the ceasefire. The photo shows a delegation of military attach?s and diplomats from 13 countries, including the United States and China, observing the implementation of the Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire agreement in July and inspecting the damaged Buddhist temple in Cambodia. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the Thai military on the 27th (local time), Cambodian forces launched a preemptive attack with rifles and grenades in the Chong Amnat area of Ubon Ratchathani Province in eastern Thailand. In contrast, the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense countered that the Thai military had attacked a Cambodian military base in the Ansae area of Preah Vihear Province in northern Cambodia with rifles and mortars.

In particular, the Thai military raised suspicions that this skirmish was a deliberate provocation. They claimed that the Cambodian forces lured the Thai troops into retaliation, filmed the combat scenes, and intended to submit the footage to the ASEAN ceasefire monitoring team to fabricate the incident as Thai aggression. The Thai military stated that they had secured video evidence showing the Cambodian forces installing cameras at the scene in advance.

In response, Hun Sen, President of the Cambodian Senate and the country's de facto leader, asserted via social media that "the Thai military used machine guns first," and claimed that his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet, had instructed the Cambodian forces to exercise restraint.

This skirmish marks the first official armed conflict since the ceasefire at the end of July. Previously, five days of fighting in late July resulted in at least 43 deaths on both sides and created more than 300,000 refugees. Although the two countries agreed at a border committee meeting on the 10th to withdraw heavy weapons and conduct joint mine clearance, tensions have persisted, as evidenced by another clash between soldiers and protesters on the 17th that left more than 20 people injured.