Cambodia Closes All Border Crossings With Thailand as Deadly Clashes Escalate Despite Ceasefire Claims

PHNOM PENH/BANGKOK, Dec 14:  Cambodia has ordered the closure of all border crossings with Thailand until further notice, as intense fighting between the two countries continued on Saturday, casting doubt over earlier claims by US President Donald Trump that both sides had agreed to a ceasefire.

Cambodia’s Interior Ministry announced the shutdown as fresh exchanges of air strikes, artillery fire, and rocket attacks were reported along the disputed frontier. The move comes amid growing civilian displacement and rising military casualties on both sides.

Thai authorities confirmed that four Thai soldiers were killed on Saturday alone, bringing Thailand’s total military death toll since Monday to 15, with at least 270 others injured. Six Thai civilians were also reported injured. Cambodia has not released updated military casualty figures but previously said at least 11 civilians were killed and 59 injured on Friday.

Cambodia’s Defence Ministry accused Thailand of escalating the conflict, claiming Thai F-16 fighter jets bombed hotel buildings and a bridge inside Cambodian territory. In a statement posted on X, the ministry said two Thai fighter jets dropped seven bombs on multiple targets on December 13, adding that Thai air strikes were still ongoing.

Thailand, meanwhile, reported that several civilians were injured after Cambodian forces launched rocket attacks into Thai territory.

Despite President Trump’s assertion earlier this week that he could halt the fighting “just by picking up the phone,” the situation on the ground has continued to deteriorate. After speaking with both leaders on Friday night, Trump said the two countries had agreed to “cease shooting effective this evening” and return to a ceasefire framework signed in October in Malaysia.

However, neither government confirmed an immediate ceasefire.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he told Trump that Thailand was not the aggressor and that a ceasefire could only happen if Cambodia withdrew its forces and removed landmines along the border.

“They must show us first,” Anutin said, referring to Thailand’s demand for verifiable actions by Cambodia.

Cambodian leaders, on the other hand, said their forces must continue fighting to defend national sovereignty.

The conflict has triggered a massive humanitarian impact, with at least 700,000 people evacuated from border areas on both sides. The fighting has spread across six provinces in northeastern Thailand and six provinces in northern and northwestern Cambodia.

The latest escalation follows weeks of mounting tension after a long-running border dispute reignited on July 24, when Cambodia launched a barrage of rockets into Thailand, prompting Thai air strikes in response. Both sides have accused each other of initiating the attacks.

An “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” brokered by President Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was formalized in October during a ceremony in Malaysia. However, the truce has since been marred by repeated allegations of violations.

Thailand has accused Cambodian troops of laying new landmines along the border, incidents that reportedly caused seven Thai soldiers to lose limbs. Cambodia has denied the allegations, saying the mines date back to its civil war in the 1980s.

Tensions surged again this week after Thailand launched air strikes inside Cambodia following a skirmish last Sunday that injured two Thai soldiers. Cambodia responded with renewed rocket fire.

The two neighbors have disputed their 800-kilometer land border for more than a century. The boundary was first drawn by French colonial cartographers in 1907 and remains a persistent source of friction between the two Southeast Asian nations.