Thai-Cambodian border fighting rages on despite Trump’s ceasefire claim

Fighting continued to rage on Saturday morning along the border of Thailand and Cambodia, even after US President Donald Trump, acting as a mediator, declared that he had won agreement from both countries for a ceasefire.

Thai officials have said they did not agree to a ceasefire, and Cambodia has not commented on Trump’s claim. Its defence ministry instead said Thai jets carried out airstrikes on Saturday morning. Cambodian media reported Trump’s claim without elaborating.

The latest large-scale fighting was set off by a skirmish on December 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers and derailed a ceasefire promoted by Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July over longstanding territorial disputes.

The July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalised in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.

Nearly two dozen people have officially been reported killed in this past week’s fighting, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced on both sides of the border. The Thai military acknowledges 11 of its troops have been killed, while estimating there have been 165 fatalities among Cambodian soldiers.

Cambodia has not announced military casualties, but has said at least 11 civilians have been killed and 76 wounded. Trump, on Friday, after speaking to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, announced an agreement to restart the ceasefire.