Fighting has erupted along a disputed border area between Thailand and Cambodia, resulting in at least 30 deaths and the displacement of more than 130,000 civilians.
Thailand conducted airstrikes on Cambodian positions, while Cambodia launched rockets and artillery at Thai targets.
Relations between the neighbours have deteriorated since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Thai forces. In June, Cambodian leader Hun Sen leaked a phone conversation with Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra regarding the border dispute. The leak led to her suspension and sparked a worsening diplomatic crisis.
Thailand and Cambodia share a 508-mile land border, significant portions of which remain non-demarcated and subject to dispute. The violence could “escalate into a state of war,” according to the acting Thai prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai.
Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet wants the United Nations security council to convene an urgent meeting to address the border clashes, and China has called for a peaceful resolution.
A Thai Buddhist monk donates blood at a Red Cross centre in Bangkok
Cambodian soldiers reload a rocket launcher in Preah Vihear province
Residents evacuate the border area in Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia
A lone Thai soldier keeps watch amid rising tension in Surin
People flee their homes at night in desperation near the border in Oddar Meanchey
The Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, seated, assesses military options with colleagues
Smoke drifts from the site of a rocket launch in Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province last week
Newsletters
Choose the newsletters you want to receive
View more
For information about how The Observer protects your data, read our Privacy Policy
Photographs by Sunny Chittawil/AP; Chanakarn Laosarakham/AFP; STR/AFP/Getty Images; Phal Lim/Xinhua News Agency/eyevine; Valeria Mongelli/Anadolu/Getty Images; Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP; EPN/Newscom/Avalon
Related articles: