There has been a war in two countries in Asia, Thailand and Cambodia. Last year, both countries opened a permanent border post on the Thai-Kambodian Friendship Bridge, but within a year, brotherhood took the form of enmity. A dispute over the region between the two southeast Asian neighbors and the 1,000-year-old Hindu temple erupted, with more than 10 civilians and several soldiers killed so far. However, the dispute is more than a century old, but tension in May increased further when a Cambodia soldier died during a clash with Thai soldiers in Emerald Triangle. Emerald Triangle is a disputed border area on which both Thailand and Cambodia have been claiming their claims.
This was followed by sharp rhetoric and the two sides accused each other of being aggressive. Hun Sen, a big leader of Cambodia and Prime Minister’s father, had also expressed the possibility of war. Hun handed over the Prime Minister’s post to his son in 2023, but takes decisions in Cambodia.
Hun Sen said, “We hate war, but we are forced to fight when facing foreign invasions.”
How did the matter increase?
In June amidst the possibility of war, the two countries increased the number of soldiers near the border, but soon the matter was settled. Despite the less stress, the two countries continued to attack each other strategic attacks, such as stopping exports and threatening to stop Thailand’s power supply.
In July, the case reached its peak when a landmine exploded and five Thai soldiers were seriously injured, for which Cambodia was held responsible. Cambodia described these claims as baseless and said that these landmines are of the time of old war.
Thailand then expelled the Cambodia ambassador and closed all the border checkposts. Due to this, bilateral relations between the two countries became worse. Cambodia also retaliated and evacuated his embassy in Bangkok and reduced diplomatic relations.
Battle starts in Thailand and Cambodia
On Thursday, the first firing between the soldiers of the two countries took place near the border Surin and Oddar Minche provinces, after which the struggle increased. The Si Ket province of Thailand was the most affected, where six civilians were killed in a firing at a gas station.
In a video that went viral on social media, people in Thailand are seen taking shelter in a concrete bunker amidst the blasts and firing sounds.
According to AP report, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry alleged that Cambodia fired rockets at both military and common citizens in Thailand. In this, Fanom Dong Rak Hospital in Surin province was also accused of attack.
Thailand, in response, deployed their F-16 fighter aircraft and bombed the areas of Cambodia. Cambodia claimed that two civilians were killed in it.
In view of the rising tension, China also offered an offer to get a reconciliation agreement between the two countries, but they say that raita and fight should increase as much as they wish. As the clashes increased, Thailand urged its citizens to leave the country in Cambodia.
History behind stress
Now on the history of this tension, there is a land border between Thailand and Cambodia more than 800 km long. The border was pulled by the French colonizer, when he ruled Cambodia from 1863 to 1953. In 1907, there was an agreement on the border.
However, Thailand later objected to this map and objected to the 11th -century Hindu Temple (Preh Vihier) being placed in Cambodian region.
In 1959, Cambodia raised the case in the International Court of International, which ruled in its favor and said that the temple comes in the Cambodian area itself. However, Thailand accepted the order at that time, but he argued that there is still a dispute about the surrounding border.
The relations between the two countries then deteriorated again in 2008, when Cambodia tried to include the temple in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thailand did not like this and there was a lot of protest and there have been sporadic clashes between the soldiers of the two countries in the last few years.
Before the clash this time, a major conflict occurred in 2011. At least 15 people were killed and thousands of citizens were forced to leave their homes in a week -long battle between the two countries. Now it has to be seen how long the fight this time is.