Sawt Falasteen - Cambodia-Thailand border clashes send half a million into shelters

At least 11 people, including Thai soldiers and Cambodian civilians, have been killed in the latest spate of fighting, officials said, while more than 500,000 have fled border regions near where jets, tanks and drones were waging battle.

The Southeast Asian neighbours dispute the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier, where competing claims to historic temples have spilled over into armed conflict.

This week's clashes are the deadliest since five days of fighting in July that killed dozens and displaced around 300,000 before a shaky truce was agreed, following intervention by Trump.

Both sides blame each other for instigating the reignited conflict, which on Tuesday expanded to five provinces of both Thailand and Cambodia, according to an AFP tally of official accounts.

AFP journalists in northwestern Cambodia's Samraong town on Wednesday morning heard the blasts of incoming artillery from the direction of centuries-old temples in disputed border areas.

"Civilians have had to evacuate in large numbers due to what we assessed as an imminent threat to their safety. More than 400,000 people have been moved to safe shelters" across seven provinces, Thai defence ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri told reporters at a news conference.

"We want to prevent a recurrence of the attacks on civilians we suffered in July 2025."

- 'Will it hit us?' -

In Cambodia, "101,229 people have been evacuated to safe shelters and relatives' homes in five provinces," as of Tuesday evening, defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata told reporters.

Cambodian Lay Non, 55, fled northern O'Smach town where he works as a security guard at a casino on Tuesday, and was staying at a temple with his family.

"This time the fighting is more intense, the Thais drop bombs from jets," he told AFP.

"I feel warm" staying near a large Buddha statue inside the temple, he added.

For Pratuan Chuawong, a Thai farmer living barely 500 metres (yards) from the Cambodian border, the return of fighting has revived the same fears that gripped her in July.

After those earlier clashes, she and her neighbours decided to build a bunker on their temple grounds, with hopes of shielding them from shelling.

Her village, in Sa Kaeo province, lies among the closest to the front line.

"This time, it feels more severe than the July fighting," Pratuan told AFP.

"The sound of shells gets louder and louder each night. I kept wondering, 'Will it hit us?'"

Cambodia withdrew Wednesday from the Southeast Asian Games, hosted by Thailand, with its Olympic committee "citing serious concerns and requests from the families of our athletes to have their relatives return home immediately".

The United States, China and Malaysia, as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN, brokered the cessation of fighting in July.

In October, Trump backed a follow-on joint declaration, touting new trade deals with Thailand and Cambodia after they agreed to prolong their ceasefire.

But Thailand suspended the agreement the following month.

The US president said he was planning to "make a phone call" on Wednesday about the renewed clashes.

During a rally speech to supporters in the northeastern US state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Trump listed various conflicts he has become involved with diplomatically, concluding with: "And I hate to say this, one named Cambodia-Thailand, that it started up today."

"Tomorrow, I have to make a phone call, and I think they'll get it," he continued.

"Who else could say, 'I'm going to make a phone call and stop a war of two very powerful countries'?"

D.Khalil--SF-PST