Explosions rocked the Thai-Cambodian border Monday, with tens of thousands of civilians evacuated amid renewed fighting.
The two governments disputed each other’s accounts of the violence, as Cambodia denied any provocation or retaliation amid a day of airstrikes and mortar shelling.
“We cannot investigate because the shells continue to drop,” said Ouk Bun Uy, police chief for O’Smach commune in Cambodia’s border province of Oddar Meanchey, in the afternoon.
Thai military had fired more than 10 mortar shells into an O’Smach casino, he said.
A security guard was killed and five people, including Chinese and Myanmar nationals, were wounded at “the Ly Yong Phat casino,” Ouk Bun Uy said, seeming to refer to the commune’s O’Smach Casino Resort, a notorious scam compound at the border. Around 90 percent of civilians in the border town had left, leaving behind some people in the casino and elsewhere, he said.
Photos reportedly from a casino compound in O’Smach, showing groups of men carrying injured peers laying on mats, circulated on Chinese language “netizen” Telegram channels on Monday afternoon. One post on a popular rumor channel claimed that three people were killed in the shellings.
The U.S. sanctioned O’Smach Casino Resort, one of the main complexes at that border crossing, and its owner Ly Yong Phat last year amid widespread reports of human trafficking and scam operations. Last month, Thailand issued an arrest warrant for the tycoon over alleged money laundering.
Horm Phirun, police chief of Samraong city, also in Oddar Meanchey, said he could not give conclusions about damage due to ongoing shelling, but acknowledged that one civilian had been killed and a few workers injured.
Schools had been closed and residents evacuated, he said.
“Their feelings are very distressed because they are under the Thai pressure,” Horm Phirun said. “People fled their residences in a chaotic way to safety.”
An online journalist was injured on Monday while filming the conflict in another Oddar Meanchey border area, reported the media rights organization CamboJA. Pol Chham, a reporter with the Khmer language news outlet Whitehorse News, sustained a “serious mouth injury” while reportedly filming explosions at Kouk Mon commune in Banteay Ampil district, which is near to Ta Moan Thom temple.
Oddar Meanchey spokesman Met Measpheakdey could not be reached for comment.
In neighboring Banteay Meanchey province, village guard Ouk Him said the controversial border checkpoint of Chouk Chey had seen explosions around 3 p.m. Residents had already been evacuated.
“Some people fled but left their stuff behind so they returned to take some things and got stuck in the explosion … hid in their homes and fled again,” Ouk Him said. “Some people fled without taking anything with them.”
The Cambodian and Thai militaries have engaged in sporadic fighting since July, with tensions rising in recent weeks despite signing peace accords in October.
Cambodia’s Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said in a Facebook post that four civilians died on Monday, based on preliminary reports from Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces.
Thai army spokesman Major-General Winthai Suvaree said in a news briefing that one Thai soldier was killed and eight wounded amid Monday’s clashes. He alleged the movement of Cambodian military equipment along the border and said “Thailand was left with no choice but to act in self-defense after observing continued Cambodian attacks against Thai forces.”
More than 385,000 civilians across four border districts would be evacuated, and 35,000 had already been moved into shelters, the Thai military said.
The Cambodian Defense Ministry denied any provocative actions in a series of social media posts highlighting “fake news.”
“Cambodian forces have not undertaken any action that violates the ceasefire agreement or the Joint Declaration on Peace between Cambodia and Thailand, contrary to what has been reported by Thai social media and media outlets,” spokeswoman Maly Socheata’s statement said.
Additional reporting by Danielle Keeton-Olsen
Updated at 8:54 p.m. to add a post from Cambodian Information Minister Neth Pheaktra