Bangkok/Poipet, Cambodia, (EFE). – The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia agreed to meet on Monday to negotiate in Malaysia after four days of armed clashes on their shared border, which so far have left more than 30 dead and more than 200,000 displaced.
The meeting between the Acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet in Kuala Lumpur was announced by Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan.
Malaysia holds the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and had offered to mediate between the parties on the second day of fighting, with a ceasefire proposal from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Thailand confirmed Anwar’s invitation and reported that the interim prime minister will travel with a delegation that includes Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa.
The Cambodian leader said on Sunday night on Facebook that he will attend the meeting hosted by Malaysia and “co-organized by the US with the participation of China.”
The announcement of the meeting came hours after United States President Donald Trump spoke with both leaders on the phone.
Trump said Saturday on his social media platform Truth Social that the two nations had “agreed to immediately meet and quickly work out a ceasefire.”
The US president pressured the parties with a warning that he would delay any tariff agreement until hostilities ceased.
In addition to Washington, the UN, Beijing, Brussels, Japan, and Moscow, among others, called for restraint and dialogue.
Ongoing conflict amid International pressure
Both Thailand and Cambodia have shown a willingness to initiate negotiations to reach a peaceful solution to the ongoing confrontation that began on Thursday.
However, hostilities have not ceased in the disputed order area and reached its fourth day on Sunday, with at least 34 dead, dozens wounded, and thousands displaced.
The Cambodian Ministry of Defense and the Thai Army confirmed new attacks by their respective sides on Sunday, which they justified by mentioning the other’s ongoing military operations.
“Thai forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions into Cambodian territory” with “heavy weaponry,” Cambodian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata confirmed at a press conference on Sunday morning.
Later, the same ministry accused Bangkok of “intensifying the conflict instead of reducing it.”
Thai forces lamented that Phnom Penh “has not ceased its attacks.”
A total of 21 people have died on the Thai side (13 civilians and 8 soldiers) and 13 on the Cambodian side (8 civilians and 5 soldiers), according to the latest official figures.
Over 30 dead and 200,000 displaced
The fighting along the border between Thailand and Cambodia, in which F-16 fighter jets, BM-21 rockets, and cluster bombs have been used, has already left some 218,000 people displaced, taking refuge in evacuation centers and temporary camps.
The Cambodian Ministry of Defense reported 25,000 displaced families, and around 80,000 affected.
“Fearing that bullets would hurt our children, we tried to flee, leaving our belongings at home. We didn’t even lock the door,” Sem SokHeng, 65, a resident of the village of Sen Chey in the northern province of Preah Vihear, told EFE.
Sem, who fled on Friday to Kulen, also in Preah Vihear, said that many Cambodians were unable to take their belongings, and that some “could not find a place to sleep.”
“Every day, we heard that Thailand was reaching the border; they were pushing and pushing. Every day we heard that Thailand was approaching the place where our soldiers were, until at the last moment the bullets started flying,” he explained about the start of the conflict, which Bangkok blames on Phnom Penh and vice versa. EFE
mca-kv/mcd