Thailand and Cambodia have reported new fighting in their ongoing border conflict, as the first talks between the sides since the latest outbreak of violence get under way.
Thailand’s military said on Wednesday that there had been clashes in the border provinces of Sisaket and Surin, Thai media reported, with Thai forces responding to Cambodian BM-21 rocket attacks with artillery, tank fire and drones.
One Thai soldier was injured in the Pha Mo I Daeng–Huai Ta Maria area of Sisaket province, the Thai army said, before Thai forces returned fire, striking more than 19 Cambodian military targets.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence said Thai forces had carried out air attacks on Banan district in the northwestern border province of Battambang, hitting a civilian residential area with four bombs.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Education also released a video showing what it said were scenes of panic at a school in the province, with students fleeing as the air raid was carried out.
Further, the ministry said two civilians had been injured by Thai shelling in Banteay Meanchey province, the Khmer Times reported.
The latest fighting came just before a meeting of defence officials began on Wednesday at the Ban Pakkad-Pailin border crossing between the countries.
The talks are the first between the sides since renewed clashes broke out on December 7, killing more than 40 people and displacing about a million, according to official counts.
The two sides agreed on Monday to hold the talks, within the framework of an existing bilateral border committee, the Cambodia-Thailand General Border Committee, following a regional push to end the fighting.
