MADRID, 14 (EUROPA PRESSE)
The Cambodian government has denounced the fact that the bombings in Thailand have killed 11 civilians and injured 59 others since they resumed on December 7 and after a weekend of new hostilities amid international efforts, still unsuccessful, to achieve a ceasefire.
In its latest report released this Sunday, the Cambodian Ministry of the Interior also reports that the Thai attacks have displaced some 394,000 people (or 117,000 families) from their homes, including nearly 96,000 children in the provinces of Preah Vihear, Oddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat, Koh Kong and Siem Reap.
The ministry also denounces the destruction or serious damage caused to “many civilian homes, private businesses, administrative offices, pagodas, temples and roads.” Essential services in Thailand’s border towns, such as schools and medical centers, are “suspended.”
The Cambodian Ministry of Defense, for its part, reported no less than five air attacks over the past twelve hours, including one in the province of Banteay Meanchey, where the Thai army allegedly used “toxic fumes”. Thailand has not commented on this accusation.
Thailand maintains a provisional toll of nine soldiers killed and more than 120 injured by the attacks by the Cambodian side.
THAI NAVY PROPOSES MARITIME BLOCUS TO CAMBODIA
For its part, the Royal Thai Navy confirmed that it would present a proposal to the country’s National Security Council on Monday to declare a maritime blockade on Cambodia with the aim of preventing the arrival of “oil and other strategic products”.
Deputy Navy spokesperson Nara Khunthodhom stressed that this is not a firm announcement but a possibility that the council will study and which considers banning entry into Cambodia for all maritime vessels, whether cargo ships, fishing boats or oil tankers, registered locally or abroad, even if they are owned by Thai nationals and carry strategic cargo.
The proposal also envisages, the spokesperson told a press conference, declaring the maritime area around Cambodia’s seaports as a high-risk zone.
However, even though it refused on Saturday to accept the ceasefire proposed by the United States and mediation by Malaysia, Thailand is not closing the door to a negotiated solution.
“Thailand continues to take a peaceful approach to resolving the situation, is willing to cooperate with independent international organizations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and calls on Cambodia to engage in constructive dialogue through existing mechanisms,” the Thai military said in a statement.
The army insisted that, during this new episode of its conflict with Cambodia, Thailand “acts within the framework of its right of self-defense in accordance with international law, by attacking only military objectives”.
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