Thailand and Cambodia’s leaders are due to meet for peace talks on Monday, as a festering territorial dispute along their shared frontier dragged into a fifth day of open combat.
At least 35 people have been killed and more than 200,000 displaced since Thursday as the countries fight over a smattering of contested ancient temples.
In an effort initiated by US President Donald Trump, Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet will meet at 3:00 pm (0700 GMT) in Kuala Lumpur. China is also expected to send a delegation.
Ahead of the talks, Thailand and Cambodia traded fresh fire and accusations.
“This is the fifth day that Thailand has invaded Cambodia’s territory with heavy weapons and with the deployment of a lot of troops to grab Cambodia’s land,” said defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata.
The previous night, Thailand’s military said Cambodian snipers were camping in one of the contested temples, and accused Phnom Penh of surging troops along the border and hammering Thai territory with rockets.
It said fighting was ongoing at seven areas along the rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by wild jungle and agricultural land where locals farm rubber and rice.বিস্তারিত