Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodia as border conflict erupts again despite Trump-brokered peace deal

Thailand carried out airstrikes on Cambodia on Monday after fresh fighting broke out along their shared border. This new violence comes only two months after a peace plan was put in place with help from US President Doland Trump, raising fears that the agreement may now fail. Both countries blamed each other for starting the attacks on Monday morning. The border has been tense for weeks, and Thailand had already paused work on the ceasefire earlier.

A Thai military officer said the airstrikes were a response to an earlier attack from the Cambodian side that killed one Thai soldier and injured two others. Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree said the Thai strikes hit Cambodian positions near the Chong An Ma Pass because those groups had used artillery and mortars to fire at Thailand’s Anupong Base.

According to the Thai army, Cambodia began firing toward the Thai side around 3 a.m. local time.
But the Cambodian army said in a separate statement that Thailand attacked their forces around 5:04 a.m., and accused Thailand of taking “provocative actions” for several days.

Thailand said about 70 per cent of civilians living near the border have been moved to safer areas. One civilian died during the evacuation due to a health issue they already had.

Thailand Cambodia border conflict

Thailand and Cambodia were involved in a five-day border fight in July that killed many people and forced around 200,000 residents from both countries to flee their homes.

A first ceasefire was reached on July 28 after US President Doland Trump spoke separately with both leaders. Later, in late October, Thailand and Cambodia signed a larger peace deal in Kuala Lumpur, with Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim present at the ceremony.

Trump saw this moment as a big diplomatic success and an example of his claim that he helped end several conflicts. But the agreement began to weaken less than two weeks after it was signed.

Thailand announced it was stopping further work on the peace deal after a landmine blast on the border injured several Thai soldiers.

Thailand and Cambodia have had small clashes in past years because of their long-running border dispute. The earlier fighting this year was among the worst in a long time, and both sides blamed each other for starting the latest round of violence.