THAILAND has warned their border conflict against Cambodia could soon “move towards war” after another deadly day of fighting.
At least 16 people have died with over 140,000 Thai civilians being urgently told to evacuate their home amid terrifying F-16 airstrikes and intense bombing.
Thailandhas rained down strikes using their fighter jets in response tofiring BM-21 rocketsof their own along the border.
The long-running border dispute has also seen artillery, tanks and troops battling it out on the ground.
In Thailand, clashes have centred around the Ubon Ratchathani and Surin provinces.
Soldiers and children are among those dead with dozens wounded on both sides.
Thailand has lost 14 civilians and one soldier with Cambodia only confirming the deaths of a civilian in Oddar Meanchey so far.
Over 138,000 Thai residents - mainly from Surin - have been displaced across the last 36 hours.
In Cambodia some 1,500 families in Oddar Meanchey province have been evacuated.
Fears are continuing to rise over the crisis with the UN Security Council now set to hold an emergency meeting later today.
The meeting comes after acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai’s said if Cambodia refuses to stop their strikes soon then they would be risking an all-out war.
He told reporters in Bangkok: “We have tried to compromise as we are neighbours, but we have now instructed the Thai military to act immediately in case of urgency.
“If the situation escalates, it could develop into war, though for now, it remains limited to clashes.”
The United States has also urged for an “immediate” end to the conflict alongside France.
China - a close ally of both nations - is “deeply concerned” about the clashes.
The raging conflict started on Thursday with both sides blaming each other of stoking tensions.
Thailand’s military had initially accused Cambodian troops of firing at a Thaiarmybase in an area near the ancient Ta Muen Thom Temple at around 7:30am local time.
The religious building sits in the disputed territory in the south of Thailand’s Surin province and in Cambodia’s northwest.
Cambodia deployed an unmanned drone in front of the temple before sending in their troops with weapons, according to Thai officials.
Bangkok’s version of events have been widely disputed.
Cambodian officials claim Thai soldiers actually caused the first issues by arriving at the temple at around 06:30am and placing barbed wire around its nearby military base.
Thai soldiers then deployed a drone and fired shots “into the air”, according to a spokesperson from Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence.
Fighting soon erupted on both sides as Thailand sealed the land border amid the escalating tensions.
