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Clashes intensify between southeast Asian neighbours as Thai F16s bomb Cambodian villages while Cambodia fired rockets on a Thai hospital according to Khmer Times and the Bangkok Post.
Sharing details of the clashes, Khmer Times reported that on Wednesday, Thai military used F-16 fighter jets to drop two bombs on the village of Slor Kram, Slor Kram commune, Svay Chek district, Banteay Meanchey province. As per Khmer Times, Thai military used several fighter jets to attack places which included Thi Mom Thi, An Ses, Phnom Khak, and Preah Vihear Temple- a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It further mentioned that the Thai military used 1 artillery shell on the Cheyy area, Thma Da commune, Veal Veng district, Pursat province and 2 DK rifles and used drones to drop bombs in the Cheyy area, Thma Da commune, Veal Veng district, Pursat province. Citing the Second Army Region, Bangkok Post reported that the rockets fired from Cambodia struck Phanom Dong Rak Hospital in Surin province on Wednesday morning. It said that the health facility had been rocket-hit in July. It mentioned that Cambodia fired six rockets at the hospital and its vicinity in Phanom Dong Rak district at 8.40am (local time), necessitating the evacuation of medical personnel and patients for their safety. As per Bangkok Post, the Second Army, which supervises the Northeast, said that clashes persisted on Wednesday morning across 12 locations. The Thai army added that Cambodian forces on Tuesday fired 5,000 rockets and attacked with suicide drones in multiple border areas, especially in Chong An Ma and Chong Bok in Ubon Ratchathani, Thiang Ta Mok area in Si Sa Ket and Chong Khana and Prasat Ta Khwai in Surin, Bangkok Post reported. Citing the Second Army, it reported that four Thai soldiers were killed and 68 others were injured, while 61 Cambodian soldiers were also reported dead. The regional army had yet to estimate the number of injured Cambodian soldiers. It further reported that the First Army Region, said its soldiers retrieved an area previously encroached upon by Cambodians in Ban Nong Ya Kaew in Sa Kaeo. Soldiers found Cambodia's anti-personnel landmines and improvised explosive devices prepared for use in that area. According to Bangkok Post, the First Army also tried to reclaim another encroached area in Ban Nong Chan in Sa Kaeo but faced resistance. Five Thai soldiers sustained injuries during the operation. Amid the clashes, US President Donald Trump, while delivering remarks on economy at Pennsylvania, said, "I hate to say this, Cambodia and Thailand started up today. Tomorrow I have to make a phone call...I'm going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia. They're going at it again. But I'll do it. So we're making peace through strength," he said. The fresh clashes come only weeks after Thailand suspended a peace agreement signed in Kuala Lumpur in late October. The pact, witnessed by US President Donald Trump, was presented as a major diplomatic breakthrough. Thailand paused its commitments to the agreement in November after a landmine blast injured two of its soldiers. The latest escalation also follows Trump's recent comments in Washington, where he claimed to have settled 8 wars in 10 months because of the rights clearly given to the president of the United States." Cambodia and Thailand were among them. Border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia stretch back decades, rooted in disputes over colonial-era maps. The frontier has seen repeated clashes, most recently in July, when fighting involving jets, missiles and ground troops killed dozens and displaced nearly 200,000 people. (ANI)
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