THAILAND announced on Tuesday that its forces had taken action to remove Cambodian troops allegedly detected inside Thai territory in the coastal province of Trat.
Thai Navy, in a morning statement, said military operations were underway to expel the intruding forces, though it released no further details.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that the renewed fighting has intensified along the long-contested border, with each side accusing the other of provoking the latest hostilities.
The escalation comes despite a ceasefire arranged by U.S. President Donald Trump in July, which halted five days of deadly exchanges.
Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said two civilians were killed overnight, bringing its total death toll to six since the latest clashes began. Thailand has reported the death of one soldier.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet late on Monday warned that Thailand “must not use military force to attack civilian villages under the pretext of reclaiming its sovereignty”. He said Cambodia had refrained from retaliating “even after its forces came under sustained attack”.
The Thai Navy accused Cambodian troops of bolstering their positions along the frontier, saying they were “deploying snipers and heavy weapons, improving fortified positions and digging trenches”, actions it described as “a direct and serious threat to Thailand’s sovereignty”.
Monday’s fighting marked the most intense clashes since July, when rocket and artillery exchanges killed at least 48 people and displaced some 300,000 before the U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect.
During that episode, Thailand evacuated 438,000 civilians across five border provinces, while Cambodian authorities also moved hundreds of thousands to safety.
Thailand’s army reported that 18 of its soldiers were wounded, and Cambodia said nine civilians were injured.
The two neighbours have disputed stretches of their 817-kilometre land border for more than a century. Contentious areas include sites around ancient temples, which have periodically sparked nationalist sentiment and armed skirmishes, most notably a deadly week-long artillery battle in 2011.
Tensions escalated sharply in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a border skirmish. That incident triggered large troop deployments on both sides and set off a series of diplomatic ruptures and armed confrontations, culminating in the renewed violence now unfolding. - December 9, 2025
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