Thai officials say 12 people killed in Cambodian shelling, as neighbours trade fire and accusations of blame.
(Al Jazeera) – A Thai F-16 jet has bombed targets in Cambodia, as a simmering border dispute and diplomatic meltdown rapidly ignited into fierce clashes, bombing and shelling that have killed at least 11 civilians and a soldier in Thailand.
Thailand and Cambodia blamed each other for the new outbreak of fighting that erupted early on Thursday in an area near the disputed Ta Moan Thom Temple, located in a border area in northwestern Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.
Fighting then spread to at least six areas along the border, Thai military official Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said, leading Thailand’s military to close the border between the countries.
Amid regional calls for mediation, Thailand’s caretaker Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told a news conference that fighting had to stop before there could be any negotiations. He said there had been no declaration of war and that the fighting was not spreading to other provinces.
