Thailand strikes province home to Angkor temples

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia accused Thailand on Monday of striking deep inside its territory, bombing areas less than a two-hour drive from the country's main tourist draw — the centuries-old Angkor temples, in a reignited border conflict.

Dozens of people were killed in five days of fighting in July before a truce was brokered and then broken within months, part of a long-standing conflict rooted in the colonial-era demarcation of the countries' 800-kilometer frontier.

Renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbors this month has killed at least 28 people, including soldiers and civilians, and displaced around 800,000, officials said.

Each side has blamed the other for instigating the fighting, claiming self-defense and trading accusations of attacks on civilians.

Cambodia said Thai forces had expanded their attack "deep into" Cambodian territory on Monday morning.

Its Defense Ministry said a Thai fighter jet had bombed "near a displaced civilians camp in the area of Srei Snam district, Siem Reap Province".

Information Minister Neth Pheaktra told Agence France-Presse that it was the first time during the renewed clashes that Thailand's military had bombed areas of Siem Reap, the home of the Angkor temple complex and its top tourist attraction — the UNESCO World Heritage Site Angkor Wat.

Neth Pheaktra said Thai F-16 jets had penetrated more than 70 km into Cambodian territory.

The country relies heavily on its tourism sector, which is still recovering from the pandemic years.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul — who dissolved parliament last week, paving the way for elections on Feb 8 — posted on Facebook on Sunday that his government would keep up the fight.

Thailand's military said on Monday that it has restricted the movement of all fuel supplies through the Chong Mek border crossing into Laos after receiving intelligence that these were being routed to Cambodian troops, said Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri.

"Our intention is not to cause impacts on the Lao people or government," he said at a news conference.

Agencies Via Xinhua