HANOI, July 26. /TASS/. At least 13 people were killed and over 70 suffered injuries in a Thai army’s attack on Cambodia’s border province of Pursat, the Khmer Times newspaper reported, citing the Cambodian Ministry of National Defense.

Ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said at a press conference in Phnom Penh that 13 Cambodian nationals - including five Royal Cambodian Armed Forces personnel and eight civilians - were killed in a cross-border attack by Thai military forces in the Pursat province on Saturday morning. She added that 21 Cambodian service members and at least 50 civilians suffered wounds in the assault, which involved heavy artillery fire.

According to Maly Socheata, in response to escalating hostilities, the Cambodian authorities have evacuated 35,829 civilians from high-risk areas in the provinces of Preah Vihear, Oddar Meanchey, and Pursat.

The Cambodian Ministry of National Defense also accused the Thai military of violating international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, by carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilians, bombing villages and sacred sites, and reportedly using banned cluster munitions.

Border conflict

Tensions between Cambodia and Thailand have been escalating since an armed incident on May 28, when Thai troops reportedly opened fire on a Cambodian military outpost in the village of Techo Morokot, located in the disputed area between Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Province and Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani Province. One Cambodian soldier was killed and several others were wounded.

Tensions flared up again on July 24 in the border areas and in the vicinity of the Ta Krabey, Ta Muen Thom, and Ta Muen Toch temples, whose territorial affiliation is contested by the two countries. In early June 2025, Cambodia referred this dispute to the UN International Court of Justice. Thailand opposed the move.