Thailand and Cambodia have been involved in armed conflicts once more along their historic border, putting a shaky peace agreement, which Trump brokered just months ago, on the verge of collapse. The combat lasted through to Wednesday, against numerous calls by the United States and other international partners urging the two parties to restrain themselves and go back to dialogue.
According to the officials of both countries, at least eight individuals have been killed since the latest outburst of violence. Both parties have not only accused each other of firing first, but there were also reports of rocket attacks, drone bombings, and the firing of heavy weapons. With the conflicts that have been exerted in various border regions, it is estimated that 400,000 civilians, who live along the frontier, are displaced in the quest to seek refuge elsewhere in safe regions.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, threatened that the situation may deteriorate. In an interview with CNN, he added that military actions would proceed until the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Thailand were not threatened anymore, which has only caused more concerns about the possibility of further escalation. The Cambodian officials, in turn, alleged that the Thai troops conducted regular night attacks by drones and what they called poisonous smoke. According to the reports made by Cambodia, seven civilians were killed and approximately 20 wounded, whereas Thai officials confirmed that one of their soldiers was killed.
The re-escalation of the conflict can be understood as the gravest since a five-day death-threatening fight in July and poses a challenge to the ceasefire accord signed in October between the U.S. President Donald Trump as a major mediator. Trump has indicated that he will come in personally in order to stop the combat, but there has been little sign of the situation on the ground being de-escalated.
The ceasefire was already experiencing pressure in the recent weeks. The situation was further worsened by a landmine blast that injured some Thai troops in November, making Bangkok suspend its involvement in the agreement. Thailand also leveled charges on Cambodia that it was planting fresh landmines in the border, a fact that Cambodian officials have strongly refuted.
Central to the conflict is that the two nations have long had conflicting territorial claims in their roughly 500-mile-long border that dates back to colonial times when the countries were divided by the borders of the unexplored continent, and thus the borders were inflicted onto the regions by colonial cartography, leading to mistrust and occasional violence. The peace agreement in October failed to solve these underlying issues, and analysts caution that in the absence of a permanent political solution, the chances of another confrontation between the two neighbors would be high.
