BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH: Thailand scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to bomb targets in Cambodia on Thursday after artillery volleys from both sides killed at least 11 civilians, as border tension boiled over into rare armed conflict between the Southeast Asian countries.
Both blamed each other for starting a morning clash at a disputed area of the border, which quickly escalated from small arms fire to heavy shelling. Hostilities flared in at least six locations 209 km (130 miles) apart along a frontier where sovereignty has been disputed for more than a century.
Thailand positioned six F-16 fighter jets in an uncommon combat deployment, one of which was mobilized to strike a Cambodian military target.
Thailand’s military said the use of air power was to strike with precision, while Cambodia’s foreign ministry described Thailand’s measures as “reckless and brutal military aggression.”
The worst fighting between the countries in 13 years came after Thailand on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to Phnom Penh and expelled Cambodia’s envoy, in response to a second Thai soldier losing a limb to a land mine that Bangkok alleged had been laid recently by rival troops. Cambodia called that accusation baseless.
