Thai Army Launches Operation to Reclaim Disputed Border Territory in Sa Kaeo Province

The Royal Thai Army has initiated a military operation to retake control of contested sovereign territory in Sa Kaeo Province along the Cambodian border, following deadly overnight clashes that left one Thai soldier dead and four others wounded.

According to Thai military authorities, the violence erupted near the Anupang forward operating base when Cambodian troops allegedly opened fire on Thai positions. In immediate retaliation, the Royal Thai Air Force deployed F-16 fighter jets, which conducted strikes against Cambodian targets in the border zone.

“Clashes are occurring at multiple points along the Thai-Cambodian frontier,” the Thai Army stated in an official release.

Phnom Penh swiftly rejected the accusations, insisting that Thai forces initiated both incidents. Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense maintained that its troops exercised restraint and did not return fire, while remaining on high alert.

The flare-up marks a serious breach of the October 2025 border de-escalation agreement signed by the two nations’ leaders at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, an accord brokered with strong diplomatic backing from the United States, China, and Malaysia.

The underlying dispute, rooted in a colonial-era boundary drawn by France in 1907, has simmered for more than a century along the 817-kilometer frontier. A similar round of fighting in July 2025 claimed numerous lives and forced the evacuation of thousands of civilians.

In response to the latest escalation, Thai authorities have begun urgently evacuating residents from four border provinces.