Thailand and Cambodia exchanged artillery fire for the fourth consecutive day this Sunday, July 27, while they are ready to discuss a high fire as part of an American mediation.
The two kingdoms of Southeast Asia are involved in the most fatal episode in almost fifteen years of a long -term territorial dispute. The exchanges of fire, bombings and air attacks left at least 33 dead and caused the movement of around 200,000 people.
The two camps, united on Saturday by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, said they wanted to start the discussions, but early in the morning, the fights resume, and each capital accused the other of losing their word.
Two attacked temples, according to Cambodia
A spokesman from the Ministry of Defense of Cambodia, Maly Scheata, said that Thailand had attacked at 4:50 am local time, 11:50 pm French hour on Saturday, two temples played in the northwest, theater of the first clashes that occurred on Thursday morning.
Bangkok committed “Acts of deliberate and coordinated assault,” he said in a statement, denouncing the “false lies and pretexts” of the Thai army to justify the “illegal invasion” of the Jemer territory.
The Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke of the “heavy artillery fire” of the Cambodian army aimed at “civilians of civilians” in the province of Surin, around 04:30 am (9:30 pm GMT). “
Any cessation of hostilities is impossible whenever Cambodia shows a flagrant lack of good faith and continues to repeat the fundamental principles of human rights and humanitarian law, “Thai diplomacy said.
In recent days, the conflict has spread on multiple fronts, sometimes far from several hundred kilometers between them, from the Thai province of Treat, popular among tourists, in the Gulf of Thailand to an area nicknamed “the Emerald Triangle” for its proximity to Laos.
American mediation
Donald Trump announced on Saturday, after exchanging with his leaders, that the two countries were ready to meet to reach a high fire. The US president welcomed two “very good conversations” and said that the two neighbors “will agree for many years”, in a message in their social network of truth.
Bangkok said that “accepting in principle establish a high fire”, while waiting to see if the intention of Phnom Penh was “sincere.” Prime Minister Khmer Hun Manet welcomed a “good news for the soldiers, and the people of the two countries,” and instructed their diplomacy leader, Prak Sokhonn, who would coordinate with his American counterpart Marco Rubio to “end” the conflict.
Before that, an attempt of mediation under the auspices of Malaysia, which occupies the rotary presidency of the Southeast Asian Nations Association (ASAN) whose two kingdoms are members, had not been followed by the effect. Thailand and Cambodia are in full discussions with the White House about prohibitive customs tasks that must attack these two economies that depend on exports on August 1.
Donald Trump said he was “inappropriate” to return to the negotiating table on the commercial aspect provided that the fights “have not stopped.” The United Nations also urged the two neighbors on Saturday to “immediately” conclude a high fire.
More than 130,000 Thai and 80,000 evacuated Cambodians
Diplomatic relations between the two neighbors, linked by rich cultural and economic ties, have been at the lowest for decades. The current episode killed 20 people on the Thai side, including seven soldiers, while Cambodia reported a balance of 13 dead, including five soldiers.
According to Phnom Penh, more than 138,000 Thai people have evacuated risk areas, and more than 80,000 Cambodians on their side of the border.
The two countries dispute the design of their common border, defined during French Indochina. Before the current fights, the most violent episode linked to this dispute dates back to clashes around the Preah Vihear temple between 2008 and 2011, which had left at least 28 dead and tens of thousands of displaced.
The United Nations Court agreed with Cambodia twice, in 1962 and 2013, on the property of the Preah Vihear Temple, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, and a surrounding area
Source: BFM TV
