Deadly clashes broke out again between Thailand and Cambodia on Monday, their second round of intense fighting this year following a five-day border war in July. The exchanges of artillery fire and airstrikes stretched into a second day today, killing at least 13 people so far, with dozens more injured and hundreds of thousands displaced.
At the root of the conflict are decades-old competing claims to territory at undemarcated sections of the two countries’ 500-mile (800-kilometer) border, further complicated by disputes over custody of ancient temple complexes in the area. The United States and Malaysia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, helped broker a ceasefire in July that paused the fighting, and Trump presided over a ceremonial signing of the deal at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur in late October.
Yet only days later, on Nov. 10, Thailand suspended the deal after one of its soldiers was badly wounded in a landmine explosion near the border. Bangkok claimed Cambodian forces had laid new landmines in the area in violation of the ceasefire deal and presented evidence to support its claims, which Phnom Penh denies. Tensions continued to simmer throughout the month and into December until the resumption of full-blown fighting yesterday, as both sides accused each other of firing on civilian areas.
