Thailand, Cambodia clashes: UN to hold emergency meeting

The exact number of casualties in Cambodia remains unclear.

A Cambodian provincial official said on Friday that at least one Cambodian civilian was killed and five others injured.

Around 1,500 Cambodian families from Banteay Ampil district in the Oddar Meanchey province near the conflict zone have been evacuated to safety, Meth Meas Pheakdey, a spokesperson for the provincial administration, said on Facebook.

What is the conflict about?

The two nations are locked in disagreement over the Emerald Triangle — an area where the borders of both countries and Laos meet, and home to several ancient temples.

Thailand and Cambodia, which share an 800-kilometer (500-mile) frontier, have been arguing over where the border should be drawn for years.

Dozens of kilometers in several areas are contested.

Fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, but a UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade.

The current crisis erupted in May after both countries’ militaries briefly fired at each other in a relatively small, contested border area that each nation claims as its own.

Both sides said they acted in self-defense. One Cambodian soldier was killed.

While Bangkok and Phnom Penh said afterwards they agreed to de-escalate the situation, tensions have remained high as Cambodian and Thai authorities continued to implement or threaten measures short of armed force.

How did the international community react?

China’s Foreign Ministry said it was deeply concerned about the ongoing clashes and would play a constructive role in promoting de-escalation.

The United States and France, Cambodia’s former colonial ruler, urged an immediate end to the conflict.

The EU said it was deeply concerned about the clashes and called for dialogue to end the fighting.