Cambodia vows fierce fight against Thailand in escalating border conflict

Cambodia's powerful Senate President Hun Sen on Tuesday vowed that his country would carry out a fierce fight against Thailand as a second day of widespread renewed combat between the Southeast Asian neighbors drove tens of thousands of people to flee border areas.

- 

Fighting broke out following a skirmish in which one Thai soldier was killed Sunday night, despite a ceasefire that ended five days of fighting in July over competing territorial claims along their border, which resulted in dozens of civilian and military deaths on both sides, and the evacuation of over 100,000 civilians.

Both sides vow to keep fighting

In a statement posted to Facebook and Telegram, Hun Sen claimed that his country had refrained from firing back on Monday, but overnight began to shoot back at Thai forces. He wrote that a strategy of concentrating on where Thailand was advancing would allow Cambodia to "to weaken and destroy enemy forces through counterattacks.”

Thailand’s army said Cambodian forces had fired artillery at a village in Sa Kaeo province early Tuesday morning, though the strike caused no casualties. Thailand says that Cambodian forces also fired at its troops Sunday and Monday, as each side blames the other for firing the first shots.

“Cambodia wants peace, but Cambodia is forced to fight back to defend its territory,” Hun Sen said. Hun Sen was Cambodia’s long-serving prime minister until 2023, when he was succeeded by his son Hun Manet, but is still widely seen as the country’s de facto leader.