Cambodia said Thai forces including fighter jets continued to strike targets across their disputed border hours after Donald Trump said both countries leaders had agreed to renew a truce brokered in October that has been strained by days of deadly clashes.
“Thai forces have not stopped the bombing yet and are still continuing the bombing,” the Cambodian ministry of information said. Thailand’s military countered with accusations that Cambodia was committing “repeated violations of international rules” by targeting civilian locations and laying landmines.
Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting after calls with the Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Manet.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” the US president said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
But neither the Thai nor the Cambodian leaders referenced the agreement in statements issued after the call, and Anutin said there was no ceasefire. When asked about Trump’s claim, Thailand’s foreign ministry referred reporters to his statement.
In a statement on Saturday on Facebook, Manet referred to the call with Trump and said Cambodia continued to seek a peaceful resolution of disputes in line with an earlier agreement signed in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in October.
Still, Manet said he advised the US and Malaysia to use their intelligence gathering capabilities to “verify which side fired first” in the latest round of fighting.
The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through after pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalised in more detail at the October regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued, with at least 20 people killed this week.
The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate. Tensions were exacerbated by a 1962 international court of justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia, which still riles many Thais.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40km (19-25 miles).
According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers who were killed were hit by rocket shrapnel.
The Thai army’s northeastern regional command said on Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border were damaged by BM-21 rocket launchers from Cambodian forces.
The Thai army also said it destroyed a tall crane atop a hill held by Cambodia where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes.
