Thailand-Cambodia Border Conflict Escalates: First Civilian Death Reported as Rocket Strikes Thai Village

Thai authorities report that Cambodia has been launching thousands of rockets almost daily. (File)

Reuters

Kantharalak:

Thailand's government announced Sunday that a 63-year-old villager was killed by a rocket attack from Cambodia, marking the first civilian fatality directly resulting from the border conflict that has escalated over the past week between the two Southeast Asian neighbors.

Both nations confirmed that extensive fighting continued on Sunday, following a December 7 skirmish that wounded two Thai soldiers. The conflict centers on long-disputed border territories, some containing ancient temple ruins dating back centuries.

The week-long hostilities have officially claimed more than two dozen lives on both sides of the border and displaced over half a million people.

Associated Press reporters arrived approximately 10 minutes after Sunday's rocket impact in Kantharalak District, Sisaket province. They observed a body completely wrapped in bandages being placed on a stretcher and transferred to an ambulance.

Nearby, a house several hundred meters away was engulfed in flames, with local volunteers attempting to extinguish the fire using buckets of water. A piece of shrapnel, believed to be from the same rocket, was found embedded in the road.

According to a Thai Army statement, the victim, identified as Don Patchapan, was killed in a residential area near a school. Thai Government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat condemned Cambodia's actions as "cruel and inhumane," accusing them of deliberately targeting civilian areas.

Cambodia has deployed BM-21 truck-mounted rocket launchers capable of firing up to 40 rockets simultaneously with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles). These weapons lack precision targeting capabilities, with rockets primarily landing in already evacuated areas.

Thailand reports that Cambodia has fired thousands of rockets almost daily, while Thailand has responded with fighter plane airstrikes, which Cambodia confirmed continued on Sunday. Both countries have also utilized drones for surveillance and bombing operations.

The Thai military has acknowledged 15 troop fatalities and estimated at least 221 Cambodian soldier deaths. Cambodia has denounced Thailand's casualty figures as disinformation without providing its own military casualty count, though it reported at least 11 civilian deaths and over 70 injuries.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet delivered an encouraging message to his citizens on Sunday, expressing pride in the nation's strength "in this situation where our country is facing difficulties due to aggression from neighboring countries."

The renewed fighting has undermined a ceasefire that was brokered by Malaysia and supported by US President Donald Trump, which had ended five days of combat in July. The agreement was further detailed at a regional meeting in Malaysia in October that Trump attended.

Despite Trump announcing this past Friday that both countries had agreed to renew the ceasefire at his urging, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied making any such commitment, while Cambodia stated it would continue fighting in what it described as self-defense.

The conflict expanded to a new front on Saturday morning when a Thai Navy warship in the Gulf of Thailand exchanged fire with Cambodian gun positions in Cambodia's southwestern province of Koh Kong, with each side blaming the other for initiating the confrontation.