The death toll from border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia rose to 96 on Thursday, on day 18 of the recent conflict.
Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said the Thai military carried out artillery strikes in a village in the Banteay Meanchey province on Thursday morning, resulting in the death of one Cambodian civilian, according to state-run Agence Kampuchea Presse.
Cambodia's National Assembly issued a strong petition condemning what it described as Thailand’s “brutal and inhumane invasion," according to the news agency.
The Thai army said that Cambodia fired BM-21 rockets into a village located in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province, causing widespread damage to the civilian infrastructure, according to the daily Nation Thailand.
Thai authorities said 23 Thai soldiers and one civilian have been killed in the fighting, adding that 41 other civilians died as “collateral effects.”
Cambodia’s Interior Ministry said 31 Cambodian civilians were killed.
Nearly a million people have been displaced on both sides since the renewed clashes began on December 8.
Cambodia’s Interior Ministry said that almost 610,000 people from the country were displaced due to the ongoing clashes, according to Agence Kampuchea Presse.
Currently, more than 150,000 people remain displaced on the Thai side, according to the Defence and Foreign Ministries, while the army had earlier reported that some 400,000 people were displaced.
Military talks between Thailand and Cambodia are likely to continue through the week after the two nations began the talks in Thailand’s Chanthaburi province on Wednesday, according to the Thai Enquirer news website.
The two sides will hold a full General Border Committee meeting on Saturday, co-chaired by the countries’ defence ministers.
If the talks do not result in agreements on key technical frameworks, Bangkok has said it will not proceed with the meeting or sign any agreements.
