The Thai army expanded the scope of its air strikes on Cambodia and dropped two bombs in Siem Reap

The Cambodian Ministry of Defense said that the Thai military's air strikes have expanded to Siem Reap Province in the northwest of Cambodia. The new round of border conflict has now killed 12 Cambodian civilians and injured nearly 80 others.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the Ministry of Interior of Cambodia said on Monday (December 15) that as of 6 p.m. on December 14, the border conflict with Thailand had caused 12 Cambodian civilians to die and another 74 to be injured.

The Ministry of Defense of Cambodia issued a press release on Monday, stating that the attack by the Thai army on the Fourth Military District of Cambodia has further penetrated into the country's sovereign territory. At 10 a.m. on that day, an F-16 fighter jet of the Thai army dropped two bombs near a refugee camp in Siem Reap Province.

Siem Reap is approximately 160 kilometers away from the Thai border city of Poipet. The famous Cambodian scenic spot Angkor Wat is located within the territory of Siem Reap Province.

Cambodian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Mari Sukhyeda said at a press conference that from midnight on the 14th to the early morning of the 15th, the Thai army continuously fired shells at multiple locations within Cambodia.

Cambodian Ministry of Interior spokesperson Dussokha reported at a press conference on Monday that the number of displaced Cambodian civilians has exceeded 403,000, including approximately 208,000 women and about 96,000 children.

Conflicts have been frequent in the border area between Cambodia and Thailand since the beginning of this year. The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in Malaysia, the current chair of ASEAN, in October. However, fierce conflicts broke out again on December 7th, with both sides accusing each other of opening fire first.