Thailand bombs Siem Reap province, home of Angkor Wat temple: Cambodia

Cambodia accused Thailand on Monday of striking deep inside its territory, bombing areas less than a two-hour drive from the country’s main tourist draw, the centuries-old Angkor temples, in a reignited border conflict.

Dozens of people were killed in five days of fighting in July before a truce was brokered and then broken within months, part of a long-standing conflict rooted in the colonial-era demarcation of the countries’ 800km (500 miles) frontier.

Renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbours this month has killed at least 28 people, including soldiers and civilians, and displaced around 800,000, officials said.

Each side has blamed the other for instigating the fighting, claiming self-defence and trading accusations of attacks on civilians.

Cambodia, which is outgunned and outspent by Thailand’s military, said Thai forces had expanded their attack “deep into” Cambodian territory on Monday morning.

Residents evacuate following air strikes in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, amid clashes along the Cambodia-Thailand border. Photo: Handout via Agence Kampuchea Press/AFP

Cambodia’s defence ministry said in a statement that a Thai fighter jet had bombed “near a displaced civilians camp in the area of Srei Snam district, Siem Reap province”.

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