Twelve people killed after military clashes at border between Thailand and Cambodia | BBC News

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Fighting has broken out between Thailand and Cambodia in a dramatic escalation of a border dispute that's been simmering for several months.

The Thai health minister says at least 11 civilians and one soldier have been killed so far in the clashes.

Thailand has used fighter jets to bomb targets across the border, while Cambodia has fired artillery and rockets into Thailand.

The Thai authorities say all checkpoints between the two countries have been closed.

Thailand has ordered the evacuation of nearby villages on its side of the border.

On Wednesday, Bangkok announced it was expelling Cambodia's ambassador and was withdrawing its own envoy from Phnom Penh.

Thailand's foreign ministry has been holding a news conference about the incident.

Let's hear some of what the spokesperson had to say.

The royal Thai government urges Cambodia to cease its repeated act

which constitutes severe violations of international law.

Such actions fundamentally contradict the principles of good neighborly relations and good faith, and will further undermine Cambodia's reputation and credibility on the global stage.

We've got some live pictures coming into us.

There will be another briefing to the media about the situation with Thailand sealing its border with Cambodia after those military clashes have killed at least 12 people.

So more details coming into us there on this story with Cambodia has been accused of firing rockets into a Thai village and attacking a hospital, while Thailand has carried out airstrikes on Cambodian military targets.

Cambodia's Prime Minister, Hun Manet, issued a statement on Facebook saying Cambodia has always adhered to a stance of resolving issues peacefully.

However, in this case, we have no choice but to respond with armed force against this armed invasion.

I want to speak to Panisa Emotra, who's with the BBC's Thai service.

She joins us live from Bangkok.

So bring us up to date with the very latest on this.

Yes, so at the moment both countries and both officials are trying to talk into the ceasefire, but in practicals we still see tensions, especially with both militaries still deploying weapons and it still results in 12-tide deaths, that includes eight years old.

And give us a bit of the background to how we've ended up in a conflict situation, what appears to be so quickly.

Yeah, so the whole conflict has spanned between the last two or three months.

It stemmed from just open fires and that resulted in one death in Cambodian soldiers.

And ever since then, there has been dispute.

Some period of time it has been lower in terms of violence.

But now this morning, as has been reported, that Cambodian open fire rocket into Thailand.

And then the escalations of today has been just like going down.

We have seen an attack that hit a hospital in Thailand.

Villagers have to evacuate.

We have talked to one of the villagers who live in the borders area that they have to evacuate their family member because they could hear the bomb, they could see the black smoke, and they have to go to the evacuation centers.

And unfortunately, we have reported 12 dead.

And what is the danger of this turning into a bigger conflict between the two countries?

Yeah, so we have talked to analysts and both from the Cambodians analysts and from the Thai analysts.

They have the bottom line that they want it to be a ceasefire, but it's really hard.

They've seen it's really hard to come together because both countries still kind of operate with the military, right?

And then it's really hard because they mentioned that the military want to assert the power and they want to

of course, protect the border of each country.

So at the moment, there's still not clear path of how both country can come to terms to talk to each other.

China has expressed their feeling that they want it to be dissolved.

Analysts also suggest that maybe the third party, the negotiators or the mediator, which in the past we have ASEAN trying to act in that role, but still it doesn't yield result yet.

So we still wait and see who will help the both country to dissolve this dispute.

And in the meantime, how is this being felt by ordinary people in both countries?

What's their reaction to the way this has escalated so quickly?

So for the normal public, this has been a shock for both countries.

Many analysts and many correspondents in the areas or in the region didn't really assume that these disputes will grow to this size, especially for the public.

Two months ago, I went into the border area.

They were building bunker, but there's still hope that the tensions would not go back in like 10 years ago when there were bomb from Cambodia drop in Thailand.

But now it's all shattered.

Their hope is all shattered because the tension is already there, the fighting.

The death is already there.

So people are really panicked.

As I mentioned, we talk that people, school has been shut.

Students, people, older people have to evacuate to the facility.

So fear is still hanging around.

Vanessa Amosha, thank you very much indeed for bringing us up to date there on that story.

Thank you.