Cambodia warns displaced people, tourist hotspots at risk from Thai bombs

Thailand for the first time targets Siem Reap province, home to Cambodia’s tourist hub Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh says.

Thai bombing raids have struck near shelters for displaced people and Cambodia’s key tourist hub, Phnom Penh warns.

Cambodia said on Monday as renewed fighting between the neighbours enters its second week that Thai air attacks are reaching deeper into its territory.

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Thai F-16 fighter jets dropped two bombs near camps for displaced people in the Chong Kal district of the northwestern border province of Oddar Meanchey and the Srei Snam district in Siem Reap province just south of Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia’s Ministries of National Defence and Information said.

Srei Snam, where Cambodian officials said a bridge was targeted, is about an 80km (50-mile) drive from Angkor Wat, a sprawling temple that is Cambodia’s national symbol and chief tourist draw.

Minister for Information Neth Pheaktra told the AFP news agency that it was the first time during the renewed fighting that Thailand’s military had struck inside Siem Reap province.

Fighting between the neighbours, fuelled by longstanding rival claims to territory along their shared border, was reignited by a skirmish on December 7.

The incident wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire pushed by United States President Donald Trump that ended five days of combat in July.

More than two dozen people along the border have been killed in the latest outbreak of fighting and more than half a million displaced, officials said.

Military officials on both sides said clashes and strikes along the border were ongoing on Monday.

Mounting losses

Thailand has made no comment on the latest Cambodian statements, but at a news conference on Monday, Thai officials delivered an estimate of the damage inflicted by their military since the fighting resumed.

They said the Cambodian losses included 12 tanks, 10 armoured vehicles, four anti-aircraft artillery systems, seven artillery pieces or mortars, five antidrone systems and five communication hubs.

Thailand said Cambodia, which is largely outgunned by its rival, has fired thousands of rockets from truck-mounted launchers at its territory.

Bangkok also said it has killed hundreds of Cambodian soldiers in the fighting.

Phnom Penh has dismissed such figures as propaganda while declining to release its own figures regarding military deaths, The Associated Press news agency reported.

Cambodia said 15 of its civilians have been killed and 73 wounded. Thailand said 16 of its soldiers and a civilian have been killed.

Thai officials also said they were trying to cut off the supply of fuel and weapons to Cambodia but denied reports that a full-scale naval blockade would be mounted, AP reported.