US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will make a call regarding reignited hostilities on the Thai-Cambodia border, where fighting has resumed less than two months after a ceasefire he brokered between the two nations collapsed.
Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, the US president reiterated his global peacemaking skills, proclaiming that “in ten months I ended eight wars”, before listing hostilities between Kosovo and Serbia, Pakistan and India, and Israel and Iran.
Acknowledging that clashes have again erupted in the disputed border region in south-east Asia, Trump suggested he would again step in to calm tensions.
“I hate to say this one, named Cambodia-Thailand, and it started up today and tomorrow I’ll have to make a phone call,” he told the crowd.
“Who else could say, ‘I’m going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries, Thailand and Cambodia.’ They’re going at it again.”
Fatal clashes escalated along the disputed border this week as both sides have sought to cast blame on the other for the fighting and vowed to defend their territories. More than 500,000 people have fled their homes to safety in Thailand and Cambodia since the start of the reignited conflict.
Both sides have accused each other of violating a US-backed ceasefire deal brokered by Trump in July and signed in his presence six weeks ago.
Tensions have simmered since Thailand suspended de-escalation measures in November after a Thai soldier was maimed by a landmine that Bangkok said was newly laid by Cambodia, a claim that Cambodia denies.
In a sign that neither side was willing to back down, Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Tuesday that Cambodia had not yet contacted Thailand about possible negotiations and the fighting would continue.
“We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do,” he said. “The government will support all kinds of military operations as planned earlier.” Earlier this week he said that military action was necessary to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty and ensure public safety.
In a statement posted to Facebook and Telegram, Cambodia’s senate president and former longtime prime minister Hun Sen claimed that his country had refrained from retaliating Monday, but overnight began to fire back at Thai forces.
“Cambodia wants peace, but Cambodia is forced to fight back to defend its territory,” Hun Sen wrote.
As of Tuesday night, Cambodia’s defence ministry said nine civilians had been killed since Monday and 20 seriously injured, while Thai officials said four soldiers had been killed and 68 had been injured.
With Reuters and Associated Press
