SINGAPORE — Thailand has carried out airstrikes against Cambodia amid a resurgence of violence on their borders that threatens to derail a peace agreement that President Donald Trump has claimed credit for.
The Royal Thai Air Force conducted an operation at the border Monday morning, according to statements from both militaries. It was not immediately clear whether there had been casualties, though both sides have blamed the other for instigating the attack and breaking the terms of a peace agreement that was signed in October.
“Cambodia had mobilized heavy weaponry, repositioned combat units, and prepared fire support elements,” which warranted the use of Thai air power, said Air Marshal Jackkrit Thammavichai, a spokesman for the Royal Thai Air Force, said. This comes about a month after four Thai soldiers patrolling the border were injured by land mines that Thailand says were laid by Cambodian forces.
Cambodia has denied that it is responsible for the land mines. In a statement, the spokeswoman for Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense, Lt Gen Maly Socheata, said Thailand’s air attack had come after “numerous provocative actions for many days.”
According to her statement, Thailand first used planes to attack Cambodian forces stationed in the province of Preah Vihear, before deploying tanks that fired artillery against temples in the province. Cambodia did not retaliate, she said.
The two Southeast Asian countries have been embroiled this year in their worst border dispute in decades. Following pressure from Trump, who threatened to stop tariff negotiations with both parties, the two countries entered a ceasefire that was formalized with the signing of a peace agreement in Malaysia two months ago.
“We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,” said Trump, who presided over the signing of the agreement in Kuala Lumpur with the prime minister of Malaysia, which serves as the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Trump has sought to pitch himself as a peacemaker and said the Thai-Cambodia dispute was among eight conflicts his administration has resolved this year.
“It’s like, I shouldn’t say it’s a hobby, because it’s so much more serious, but something I’m good at and something I love to do,” he said.
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