- The army received reports of attacks on soldiers with firearms: Thai army.
- Thailand begins “using aircraft to strike military targets in several areas.”
- Cambodia says Thailand fired “several shots at Tamone Thom temple”.
Thailand launched airstrikes on its neighbor Cambodia on Monday, the Thai military said, with the two sides trading blame for the latest outbreak of fighting on their disputed border that killed a Thai soldier.
After Cambodian troops fired on Thai forces early Monday morning in Ubon Ratchathani province, “the army received reports that Thai soldiers were attacked with supporting firearms, resulting in the death of one soldier and the injury of four,” Thai army spokesman Winthai Suvaree said in a statement.
Winthai also said Thailand had begun “using aircraft to strike military targets in several areas” to quell attacks by Cambodian forces.
Cambodian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said Thai forces launched an attack on Cambodian troops in the border provinces of Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey early Monday morning, accusing Thailand of “firing several shots from tanks at the Tamone Thom temple” and other areas near the Preah Vihear temple.
She said Cambodia did not retaliate.
Met Measpheakdey, Cambodian spokesperson for the Oddar Meanchey provincial administration, said gunfire was reported in the areas of the century-old temples of Tamone Thom and Ta Krabei, and that a “number of villagers who live near the border are fleeing for safety.”
Thailand’s Second Military Region said in a statement that around 35,000 people in Thailand had been evacuated from areas along the border with Cambodia since fighting resumed.
Both sides reported a brief skirmish on Sunday, which the Thai military said left two soldiers injured.
Five days of clashes broke out this summer between Thailand and Cambodia, killing 43 people and displacing around 300,000 before a truce took effect.
