Border Disputes

US president says the deal will bring peace and new economic opportunities for the two rivals, but issues remain.

United States President Donald Trump has hosted his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House for the signing of a peace treaty between the two longtime rivals.

The US president said during a ceremony on Friday that he believed the two men would have a “great relationship” and that the agreement would bring peace and new economic opportunities to the region.

“I want to congratulate these two great people, Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev, for coming to Washington to sign this momentous joint declaration,” Trump said.

“The countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan are committing to stop all fighting forever; open up commerce, travel and diplomatic relations; and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Aliyev echoed Trump’s statements, saying that the deal marked the start of a “long-lasting peace, eternal peace in the Caucasus”.

“ There should be no doubts and no suspicions that any of the sides would step back. If any of us — Prime Minister Pashinyan or myself — had in mind to step back, we wouldn’t have come here,” Aliyev said.

The agreement will create a transportation corridor between the two countries, which have been embroiled in territorial disputes since the disintegration of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.

Those wars were largely fought over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is within Azerbaijan’s borders but was previously populated by ethnic Armenians.

They were ultimately expelled en masse during an Azerbaijani offensive in 2023.

The deal grants the US exclusive developmental rights to the transport corridor, which will be dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity”.

“We anticipate significant infrastructure development by American companies. They’re very anxious to go into these two countries,” Trump said.

He added that the US was also signing bilateral agreements with both countries to increase cooperation in areas like energy, trade and technology, including artificial intelligence.

The deals would also lift previous restrictions on security coordination with Azerbaijan, which has faced scrutiny over its human rights record.

“I’m very grateful to the president that he lifted the restrictions that had been imposed on Azerbaijan back in 1992,” said Aliyev.

While Trump has hailed the agreement as a diplomatic breakthrough and an opportunity for economic engagement, it is viewed with bitterness by many Armenians.

During Azerbaijan’s 2023 military campaign, the country sought to bring Nagorno-Karabakh under its control.

But that military offensive involved a brutal siege that rights groups say amounted to the restriction of food as a weapon of war. The conflict culminated in the forcible expulsion of the territory’s ethnic Armenian population.

Images of displaced Armenians fleeing with their possessions recalled painful memories of what many consider the “Armenian Genocide”, which took place from 1915 to 1923.

Azerbaijan maintains that the campaign was necessary to restore order in a territory within its borders and that Armenians could have stayed in their homes.

“Erasing Nagorno-Karabakh is not peace,” Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in a statement on Thursday, saying the agreement had been reached “at gunpoint”.

“Normalising ethnic cleansing is not peace.”

Beijing warns Manila to stop ‘playing with fire’ after Marcos signals potential Taiwan conflict involvement.

China has sharply criticised Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr after he suggested his country would be drawn into a potential conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan.

During a state visit to India this week, Marcos said the Philippines’ geographic proximity and the large Filipino community in Taiwan meant the country would be forced to get involved in the event of war.

“If there is an all-out war, then we will be drawn into it,” Marcos told Indian broadcaster Firstpost. “There are many, many Filipino nationals in Taiwan and that would be immediately a humanitarian problem.”

In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strongly worded statement on Friday, warning Manila not to “play with fire” and urging it to uphold the one China principle.

“Geographical proximity and large overseas populations are not excuses for interfering in others’ internal affairs,” the statement read.

Tensions between China and the Philippines have intensified in recent years over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Both sides have accused each other of provocations, with altercations at sea involving ramming incidents, water cannon blasts, and clashes involving weapons such as spears and knives.

Beijing continues to assert that Taiwan is part of its territory and a breakaway province, a position Taipei rejects.

China also dismissed Marcos’s justification as undermining both international law and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations charter, saying his comments risk destabilising regional peace and harming the interests of the Philippine people.

Marcos’s trip to India also saw the signing of new security agreements aimed at strengthening defence ties between New Delhi and Manila, including cooperation between both countries’ armies, air forces and navies. Indian warships recently began joint patrols with the Philippine Navy in the contested South China Sea in a move likely to anger China.

In another sign of rising tensions, Philippine officials earlier this week condemned the launch of a Chinese rocket, which they said dropped suspected debris near a western province, alarming residents and threatening local ships and aircraft. No damage or injuries were reported.

The escalating maritime standoff has also increasingly drawn in the United States, which has a mutual defence pact with the Philippines. Washington has reaffirmed its commitment to defend Filipino forces, including coastguard personnel, aircraft and public vessels, should they come under attack anywhere in the South China Sea.

The strikes on Lebanon’s east came as its government endorsed a US-backed proposal for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

At least six people have been killed and 10 others wounded in two separate Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon, according to media and government reports, in its latest near-daily violation of a US-brokered November ceasefire in a war with Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), citing a Health Ministry statement, said a strike hit a vehicle on Thursday on the al-Masnaa international road in the Bekaa Valley, killing five people and injuring 10 others.

Another drone strike killed a Lebanese civilian in the town of Kfar Dan, west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.

According to the agency, the man was standing outside his home when he was targeted by the drone. No further details were immediately available.

The Israeli military has not commented on the attacks.

The reported strikes came as Lebanon’s government endorsed a US-backed proposal for Hezbollah to be disarmed by the end of the year.

A Syrian national was killed earlier and two others were injured in an overnight Israeli strike on the town of Deir Siryan in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon, the Ministry of Public Health reported.

The Israeli army also targeted the northern outskirts of Deir Siryan near the Litani River, as well as a garage and bulldozers near residential areas, according to NNA.

In a military statement, the Israeli army claimed to have struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the attacks.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8, 2023, as the Lebanese group launched strikes in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, which was coming under Israeli attack. This escalated into a full-scale war by September 2024, killing more than 4,000 people and injuring approximately 17,000.

Although a ceasefire was reached last November, Israel has conducted near-daily attacks in southern Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah’s activities. It has threatened that it will continue to do so until the Lebanese group is disarmed.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border. Israel, meanwhile, was meant to pull all of its troops out of Lebanon, but has kept them in five areas it deems strategic.

The ceasefire was based on a previous United Nations Security Council resolution that said only the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers should possess weapons in the country’s south, and that all non-state groups should be disarmed.

However, that resolution went unfulfilled for years, with the Iran-backed political party and armed group’s arsenal before the latest war seen as far superior to the army’s, and the group wielding extensive political influence.

Both sides agree to extend truce, though Thailand still holds 18 Cambodian soldiers taken hours after truce implemented.

Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to monitor a fragile ceasefire that ended five days of deadly border clashes last month.

Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Seiha and Thailand’s acting Defence Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit concluded four days of talks in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday aimed at thrashing out the terms of the Malaysia-brokered truce, with a joint pledge to continue a freeze on border troop movements and patrols.

The two countries have quarrelled for decades over their 817km (508-mile) undemarcated land border, the latest dispute breaking out after a landmine explosion on the border wounded five Thai soldiers last month, with the resulting fighting killing at least 43 people.

According to a joint statement of the so-called General Border Committee, each country will set up its own interim observer team comprised of defence officials from the ASEAN regional bloc and coordinated by current chair Malaysia, pending the deployment of a formal observer mission.

The United States welcomed the developments as an “important step forward in solidifying the ceasefire arrangement and establishing the ASEAN observation mechanism”, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement on Thursday.

“President Trump and I expect the governments of Cambodia and Thailand to fully honor their commitments to end this conflict,” Rubio noted.

The July 28 ceasefire followed economic pressure from US President Donald Trump, who had warned the nations that he would not conclude trade deals with them if the fighting persisted. Washington subsequently lowered tariffs on goods from the two countries from 36 percent to 19 percent at the beginning of this month.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday, lauding him for his “extraordinary statesmanship” and his “visionary and innovative diplomacy” in a letter addressed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

“This timely intervention, which averted a potentially devastating conflict, was vital in preventing great loss of lives and paved the pay towards the restoration of peace,” he said.

Shaky deal

Implementation of the deal was initially bumpy, with both Thailand and Cambodia accusing each other of violating international humanitarian laws and breaching the truce in the first few days of its implementation.

While both sides have now extended the shaky deal, the issue of 18 Cambodian soldiers captured just hours after the ceasefire took effect remains a sticking point.

Cambodia had accused Thailand of mistreating the captured men, who initially numbered 20, with two wounded members repatriated on Friday. Thai authorities called the group “prisoners of war” and said they would only be freed and repatriated following an end to the conflict.

The joint statement did not directly mention them, but it noted that the captives should be “immediately released and repatriated after the cessation of active hostilities”.

Tensions have been growing between the two countries since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand’s domestic politics.

Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand – As Thai and Cambodian officials meet for talks in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to cement a fragile ceasefire, sources on the ground say troops continue to build up on both sides of their disputed border.

Malaysia helped mediate a truce on July 28 that brought to an end five days of fierce clashes between Cambodian and Thai forces.

But the two neighbouring countries have accused the other of violating the terms of the shaky ceasefire, even while their officials attend border talks in Kuala Lumpur that began on Monday.

The four-day summit will conclude on Thursday with a meeting scheduled between Thai Deputy Defence Minister Natthaphon Nakpanit and Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Seiha, which will also be attended by observers from Malaysia, China and the United States.

“It can erupt at any time; the situation is not stable,” said Wasawat Puangpornsri, a member of Thailand’s parliament whose constituency includes Ubon Ratchathani province’s Nam Yuen district on the border with Cambodia.

On Tuesday, Wasawat Puangpornsri visited the area and said a large number of Thai and Cambodian troops were stationed some 50 metres away from each other around the Chong Anma border crossing in Nam Yuen district.

The ongoing tension has stymied efforts to return some 20,000 Thai people to their homes in Ubon Ratchathani, which came under attack on July 24 when simmering tensions exploded into heavy fighting between the two countries.

Wasawat Puangpornsri and other representatives from Thailand’s government were inspecting civilian homes damaged in the area during the fighting to assess reparation payments.

Residents of the area told Al Jazeera that they were already on high alert after a brief firefight in May left one Cambodian soldier dead and diplomatic relations between Bangkok and Phnom Penh soured as a result.

Both militaries blamed each other for firing the first shots during the May incident and also the all-out clashes that erupted on July 24, which included Cambodian forces firing artillery and rockets into civilian neighbourhoods in Thailand and Thai fighter jets bombing Cambodia.

Local Thai resident Phian Somsri said she was feeding her ducks when the explosions started in July.

“I prepared for it, but I never really thought it would happen,” she said, sitting on the tile floor of a Buddhist pagoda where she has been sheltering for more than 10 days.

“Bombs were falling in the rice fields,” Phian Somsri said, recounting to Al Jazeera how she received a frantic phone call while gathering her belongings to flee.

One of her closest friends, known affectionately as Grandma Lao, had just been killed when a rocket struck her house.

“I was shocked and sad, I couldn’t believe it, and I hoped it wasn’t true. But I was also so scared, because at that same time I could hear the gunfire and bombs, and I couldn’t do anything,” she said.

‘I pray everything will be all right and peaceful’

When the guns fell silent on July 28 after five days of fighting, at least 24 civilians had been killed – eight in Cambodia and 16 in Thailand – and more than 260,000 people had been displaced from their homes on both sides of the border.

While the ceasefire is holding, both countries continue to accuse the other of violations since the ceasefire went into effect – even while the General Border Committee meeting talks in Kuala Lumpur got under way this week to prevent further clashes.

Cambodia’s former longtime leader Hun Sen claimed on Sunday that a renewed Thai offensive was imminent, although it never materialised.

Despite handing power to his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet, in 2023, Hun Sen is largely seen as being the country’s real power and continuing to call the shots.

The head of a district in Ubon Ratchathani, located away from the fighting and where displaced Thai people evacuated to, also confirmed that people are not yet returning home due to the ongoing tension and reports of renewed troop build-ups.

The district official, who asked that his name not be used as he was not authorised to talk to the media, said the Thai military is wary of its Cambodian counterpart.

“They don’t trust the Cambodian side,” he said, adding that many of the evacuees have been traumatised by their recent experience.

Netagit, 46, a janitor for a village hospital, told how he was taking refuge at a bomb shelter near a Buddhist temple when his house was destroyed by rocket fire on July 25.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do next,” he told Al Jazeera while inspecting the ruins of his home.

Netagit had lived here with his two children, his wife and her parents. Now his family’s personal belongings have spilled into the street and concrete walls painted a bright blue are crumbled, while a corrugated iron roof lies strewn across the ground in pieces.

At first, he tried to hide the news from his kids that their house had been destroyed.

“I didn’t want to tell them, but they saw the pictures and started crying,” Netagit said. “I’m just trying to prepare myself for whatever comes next,” he added.

Displaced residents in this district hope the outcome of the border talks in Kuala Lumpur will bring stability, but continued troop movements and diplomatic sparring are leaving them anxious.

After a week away from home, Phian Somsri’s husband was allowed to briefly return to check on their property.

By then, all of her ducks had died, she said.

“I feel really overwhelmed, and I just want to go home,” she said.

“I pray everything will be all right and peaceful between the two countries.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan’s leaders met in the UAE last month, but no breakthrough in their decades-long conflict was reached.

United States President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for peace talks at the White House, a US official said.

The official told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that there is a possibility a framework for a peace agreement could be announced at Friday’s meeting in Washington, DC.

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, for peace talks last month, but no breakthrough in the decades-old conflict was announced.

The two South Caucasus countries have been in conflict with each other since the late 1980s, when Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.

The region, which was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917, had a mostly ethnic Armenian population at the time.

Azerbaijan recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, prompting almost all of the territory’s 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia.

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of “erasing all traces” of the presence of ethnic Armenians in the contested territory, in a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The case stems from the 2020 war over Nagorno-Karabakh, which left more than 6,600 people dead, one of three full-scale wars that the two countries have fought over the region.

The United Nations’s top court has ordered Azerbaijan to allow ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh to return. Azerbaijan says it is committed to ensuring all residents’ safety and security, regardless of national or ethnic origin, and that it has not forced ethnic Armenians, who are mostly Christian, to leave the Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mostly Muslim, links its historical identity to the territory, too, and has accused the Armenians of driving out Azeris who lived near the region in the 1990s.

The meeting in Abu Dhabi last month between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev came after the two countries finalised a draft peace deal in March.

The two leaders “agreed to continue bilateral negotiations and confidence-building measures between the two countries”, but no more concrete steps were outlined in the final statement from the talks.

Ceasefire violations along the heavily militarised 1,000km (620-mile) shared Armenia-Azerbaijan border surged soon after the draft deal was announced in March, but later diminished.

The island of Santa Rosa sits in the Amazon River between Colombia and Peru, with the government in Lima recently naming it a federal district.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the neighbouring country of Peru of annexing a disputed island on the Amazon River, resuscitating a longstanding disagreement between the two nations.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Petro said that Peru had acted to “unilaterally” assert control over the small island of Santa Rosa in a recent congressional vote.

“The Peruvian government has just appropriated it by law,” Petro wrote on the social media platform X.

He added that Peru’s actions could block the Colombian city of Leticia from accessing the Amazon River. “Our government will resort to diplomacy to defend our national sovereignty.”

Petro’s comments appeared to be a response to a vote in June, whereby Peru’s Congress designated the island of Santa Rosa a district in its Loreto province.

Who controls the island has been a subject of debate between Peru and Colombia for nearly a century.

Peru has claimed ownership based on treaties from 1922 and 1929, and it has administered Santa Rosa for decades.

But Colombia maintains that the island of Santa Rosa had not emerged from the Amazon River at the time of the treaties and therefore is not subject to them.

It has also argued that the treaties set the boundary between the two countries at the deepest point of the Amazon River, and that islands like Santa Rosa have emerged on the Colombian side of that dividing line.

“Islands have appeared north of the current deepest line, and the Peruvian government has just appropriated them by law and placed the capital of a municipality on land that, by treaty, should belong to Colombia,” Petro wrote.

He warned that Peru’s claims to Santa Rosa could inhibit travel and trade to nearby Leticia, which boasts a population of nearly 60,000.

“This unilateral action”, Petro wrote on Tuesday, “could make Leticia disappear as an Amazonian port, taking away its commercial life”.

Petro said he would hold celebrations commemorating Colombian independence from Spain in Leticia on Thursday, framing the island’s status as a symbol of national sovereignty.

The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said in a social media post that it would push for further diplomacy in determining the nationality of newly emerged islands.

“For years, Colombia has maintained the need to carry out bilateral work for the allocation of islands,” the ministry wrote. Colombia, it added, “has reiterated the position that ‘Santa Rosa Island’ has not been allocated to Peru”.

The Amazon River is one of the longest waterways in the world, with the most water discharged of any river.

But those powerful currents deposit and rearrange sediment throughout the river basin, forming – and sometimes erasing – islands.

Santa Rosa is one of those newer islands. The land now contains forest and farmland, as well as the village of Santa Rosa de Yavari.

That town is home to a population of fewer than 1,000 people, according to Peru’s latest census, and is largely reliant on tourism, based on its proximity to the Amazon.

The Peruvian government has argued that making Santa Rosa a district was necessary to ensure it received federal funds and could collect taxes.

“Peru is complying firmly with its obligations under international law and with valid bilateral treaties,” the Peruvian government said in a statement.

A fragile truce between the Southeast Asian neighbours continues to hold, following five days of deadly border clashes.

Officials from Thailand and Cambodia have met in Malaysia for the start of border talks, a week after a fragile ceasefire brought an end to an eruption of five days of deadly clashes between the two countries.

The meeting on Monday came ahead of a key meeting on Thursday, which is expected to be led by the Thai and Cambodian defence ministers.

This week’s talks, which will be observed by representatives from China, Malaysia and the United States, aim to iron out plans to maintain the current truce and avoid future border confrontations.

They will include finalising details for a monitoring team from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Malaysian Chief of Defence Forces General Mohd Nizam Jaffar said on Monday.

The sessions in Malaysia follow the worst fighting between Thailand and Cambodia in more than a decade.

Clashes along the long-disputed border last month killed at least 43 people, including civilians, and left more than 300,000 others displaced, according to the Reuters news agency.

Relations between the neighbours deteriorated in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a border skirmish, before worsening when Thai soldiers were injured by landmines in contested territory last month.

The Southeast Asian countries downgraded diplomatic relations and violence broke out, which both sides blamed the other for starting.

The recent fighting involved infantry clashes, artillery exchanges, air strikes and rocket fire.

A ceasefire was announced on July 28, in part following economic pressure from US President Donald Trump, who warned both countries that they could not make trade deals with Washington without a ceasefire.

Despite the fragile truce, tensions remain high and mistrust between the two sides lingers.

Cambodia’s defence ministry has accused Thailand of violating the terms of the ceasefire by installing barbed wire in a disputed border area, while the Thai military has suggested that the Cambodian army has reinforced troops in key areas.

Both countries have given foreign observers tours of last month’s battle sites, while seeking to show the damage allegedly inflicted by the other nation.

Thailand and Cambodia also accuse each other of violating international humanitarian laws by targeting citizens.

Phnom Penh continues to demand the release of 18 of its captured troops, whom Bangkok says it will only release following “a complete cessation of the armed conflict, not just a ceasefire”.

On Friday, Thailand returned two wounded Cambodian soldiers through a border checkpoint connecting Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey.

The neighbours dispute how the troops came to be captured, with Thailand rejecting Cambodia’s claims that the troops approached Thai positions to offer post-conflict greetings.

The exercise coincided with President Ferdinand Marcos’s departure for a five-day trip to India, where he said he would look to deepen maritime ties.

India and the Philippines have staged their first joint sail and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea.

The two-day joint military deployment that kicked off on Sunday is likely to anger China, which claims nearly the entire key waterway and has separate territorial disputes with the two Asian countries.

Philippine Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jr said on Monday that the joint sail took place inside his country’s exclusive economic zone.

“We did not experience any untoward incidents, but there are still those shadowing us – as we had already expected,” Brawner told reporters, without naming China.

In past joint patrols with other foreign navies, Chinese navy and coastguard ships have kept watch from a distance, according to the Philippine military.

Indian navy ships that took part included guided missile destroyer INS Delhi, tanker INS Shakti and corvette INS Kiltan. The Philippines deployed two frigates, BRP Miguel Malvar and BRP Jose Rizal.

The exercise coincided with President Ferdinand Marcos’s departure for a five-day trip to India, where he said he would look to deepen maritime ties and seek cooperation on sectors including defence, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

Brawner, meanwhile, expressed hope that Filipino forces could engage India’s military in more joint manoeuvres in the future.

The drill “sends a powerful signal of solidarity, strength in partnership and the energy of cooperation between two vibrant democracies in the Indo-Pacific”, he said.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that territorial and maritime disputes should be resolved between the countries directly involved, and no third party should intervene.

In response to a question last week about the Philippines’ plans to build up military cooperation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense called the country a “troublemaker” that has aligned itself with foreign forces to stir up trouble, in what China deems its own territorial waters.

“China never wavers in its resolve and will safeguard national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and take resolute countermeasures against any provocations by the Philippine side,” spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang had told reporters.

The South China Sea is a strategic shipping route where $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce takes place.

A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal found China’s sweeping claims have no basis under international law, a decision Beijing rejects.

Seoul removes propaganda loudspeakers to signal a shift in policy under President Lee’s administration.

South Korean authorities began removing loudspeakers blaring anti-North Korea broadcasts along the country’s border, Seoul’s Ministry of National Defence has said, as the new government of President Lee Jae-myung seeks to ease tensions with Pyongyang.

“Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,” Lee Kyung-ho, spokesman of South Korea’s Defence Ministry, told reporters on Monday.

Shortly after he took office in June, Lee’s administration switched off propaganda broadcasts criticising the North Korean regime as it looks to revive stalled dialogue with its neighbour.

But North Korea recently rebuffed the overtures and said it had no interest in talking to South Korea.

The countries remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, and relations have deteriorated in the last few years.

“It is a practical measure aimed at helping ease tensions with the North, provided that such actions do not compromise the military’s state of readiness,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

All loudspeakers set up along the border will be dismantled by the end of the week, he added, but did not disclose the exact number that would be removed.

President Lee, recently elected after his predecessor was impeached over an abortive martial law declaration, had ordered the military to stop the broadcasts in a bid to “restore trust”.

Relations between the two Koreas had been at one of their lowest points in years, with Seoul taking a hard line towards Pyongyang, which has drawn ever closer to Moscow in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The previous government started the broadcasts last year in response to a barrage of trash-filled balloons flown southward by Pyongyang.

But Lee promised to improve relations with North Korea and reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Despite his diplomatic overtures, North Korea has rejected pursuing dialogue with its neighbour.

“If the ROK… expected that it could reverse all the results it had made with a few sentimental words, nothing is [a] more serious miscalculation…,” Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said last week, using the acronym for South Korea’s official name, Republic of Korea.

Lee has said that he would seek talks with North Korea without conditions, following a deep freeze under his predecessor.

Cambodia demands return of more soldiers held by Thailand as border tensions simmer between the two countries.

Thailand has released two wounded Cambodian soldiers who were captured following intense clashes near a contested border area, as the neighbours prepare for talks next week aimed at maintaining a shaky truce.

The soldiers were returned on Friday through a checkpoint connecting Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey, the Cambodian Defence Ministry said.

Their homecoming comes amid continued accusations from both governments over alleged civilian targeting and breaches of international law during a five-day conflict that erupted last week.

Eighteen other Cambodian troops captured during skirmishes on Tuesday, hours after a ceasefire deal was reached, remain in Thai custody.

“The wounded soldiers were returned through a designated border point,” said Maly Socheata, a spokesperson for Cambodia’s Defence Ministry, urging Bangkok to repatriate the remaining captured troops “in accordance with international humanitarian law”.

The two governments have provided starkly contrasting versions of the soldiers’ capture.

Phnom Penh says its troops approached Thai positions with peaceful intentions, offering post-conflict greetings. But Bangkok disputes that account, alleging the Cambodian soldiers crossed into Thai territory with apparent hostility, prompting their detention.

Thai officials say they are adhering to legal protocols while assessing the actions of the remaining soldiers. No timeline has been given for their release.

The ceasefire has done little to ease simmering nationalist anger online, with social media platforms in both countries flooded by patriotic fervour and mutual recriminations.

Meanwhile, both nations have taken foreign diplomats and observers on guided tours of former combat zones. Each side has accused the other of inflicting damage, using the visits to bolster their narratives.

The recent round of violence involved infantry clashes, Cambodian rocket fire, Thai air strikes, and artillery exchanges. The fighting killed more than 30 people, including civilians, and forced more than 260,000 others from their homes.

Under the ceasefire terms, military officials from both countries are due to meet next week in Malaysia to discuss de-escalation measures.

However, these talks will exclude the underlying territorial dispute, which has remained unresolved for decades.

The General Border Committee, which coordinates on border security, ceasefires, and troop deployments, will meet between August 4 and 7, Thai acting Defence Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit told reporters.

“Defence attaches from other ASEAN countries will be invited as well as the defence attaches from the US and China,” a Malaysian government spokesperson told reporters, referring to the Southeast Asian regional bloc that the country currently chairs.

Separately on Friday, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol said Phnom Penh intends to nominate United States President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his role in brokering the ceasefire.

Speaking earlier in the capital, he thanked Trump for “bringing peace” and insisted the US leader deserved the award.

Similar nominations have recently come from Pakistan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both citing Trump’s interventions in regional disputes.

Fighting between the armies of Uganda and neighbouring South Sudan, which are longtime allies, erupted this week over demarcations in disputed border regions, leading to the death of at least four soldiers, according to official reports from both sides.

Thousands of civilians have since been displaced in affected areas as people fled to safety amid the rare outbreak of violence.

A gunfight began on Monday and comes as South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest countries, is facing renewed violence due to fracturing within the government of President Salva Kiir that has led to fighting between South Sudanese troops and a rebel armed group.

Uganda has been pivotal in keeping that issue contained by deploying troops to assist Kiir’s forces. However, the latest conflict between the two countries’ armies is raising questions regarding the state of that alliance.

What has happened?

There are conflicting accounts of the events that began at about 4:25pm local time (13:25 GMT) on Monday, making it hard to pinpoint which side struck first.

The two agree on where the fighting took place, but each claims the site as being in its own territory.

Ugandan military spokesperson Major-General Felix Kulayigye told reporters on Wednesday that the fighting broke out when South Sudanese soldiers crossed into Ugandan territory in the state of West Nile and set up camp there. The South Sudanese soldiers refused to leave after being told to do so, Kulayigye said, resulting in the Ugandan side having “to apply force”.

A Ugandan soldier was killed in the skirmish that ensued, Kulayigye added, after which the Ugandan side retaliated and opened fire, killing three South Sudanese soldiers.

However, South Sudan military spokesperson Major-General Lul Ruai Koang said in a Facebook post earlier on Tuesday that armies of the “two sisterly republics” had exchanged fire on the South Sudanese side, in the Kajo Keji County of Central Equatoria state. Both sides suffered casualties, he said, without giving more details.

Wani Jackson Mule, a local leader in Kajo-Keji County, backed up this account in a Facebook post on Wednesday and added that Ugandan forces had launched a “surprise attack” on South Sudanese territory. Mule said local officials had counted the bodies of five South Sudanese officers.

Kajo-Keji County army commander Brigadier General Henry Buri, in the same statement as Mule, said the Ugandan forces had been “heavily armed with tanks and artillery”, and that they had targeted a joint security force unit stationed to protect civilians, who are often attacked by criminal groups in the area. The army general identified the deceased men as two South Sudanese soldiers, two police officers and one prison officer.

The fighting affected border villages and caused panic as people fled from the area, packing their belongings hurriedly on their backs, according to residents speaking to the media. Children were lost in the chaos. Photos on social media showed crowds gathered as local priests supervised the collection and transport of remains.

What is the border conflict about?

Uganda and South Sudan have previously clashed over demarcations along their joint border, although those events have been few and far between. As with the Monday clash, the fighting is often characterised by tension and violence. However, heavy artillery fighting, which occurred on Monday, is rare.

Problems at the border date back to the demarcations made during the British colonial era between Sudan, which South Sudan was once a part of, and Uganda. Despite setting up a joint demarcation committee (unknown when), the two countries have failed to agree on border points.

In November 2010, just months before an anticipated South Sudanese referendum on independence from Sudan, clashes erupted after the Ugandan government accused the Sudanese army of attacking Dengolo village in the West Nile district of Moyo on the Ugandan side in multiple raids, and of arresting Ugandan villagers who were accused of crossing the border to cut down timber.

A South Sudanese army spokesperson denied the allegations and suggested that the assailants could have been from the forestry commission. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and South Sudan’s Kiir met a few days later and pledged to finalise the border issue, but that did not happen.

Little was reported on the matter for several years after that, but in October 2020, two Ugandan soldiers and two South Sudanese soldiers were killed when the two sides attacked each other in Pogee, Magwi County of South Sudan, which connects to Gulu district of northern Uganda. The area includes disputed territory. Some reports claimed that three South Sudanese were killed. Each side blamed the other for starting the fight.

In September 2024, the Ugandan parliament urged the government to expedite the demarcation process, adding that the lack of clear borders was fuelling insecurity in parts of rural Uganda, and Ugandan forces could not effectively pursue criminal cattle rustling groups operating in the border area as a result.

Following the latest flare-up of violence this week, the countries have pledged to form a new joint committee to investigate the clashes, South Sudan military spokesperson, General Koang, said in a statement on Tuesday. The committee will also investigate any recurring issues along the border in a bid to resolve them, the statement read.

Why does Uganda provide military support to South Sudan’s President Kiir?

Uganda’s Museveni has been a staunch ally of South Sudan’s independence leader, Kiir, and his Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party for many years.

Museveni supported South Sudan’s liberation war against Sudan, especially following alleged collusion between the former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group originally formed in Uganda but which regularly attacks both Ugandan and South Sudanese locations in its efforts to overthrow the Ugandan government.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in January 2011. In 2013, Uganda sent troops to support Kiir after a civil war broke out in the new country.

Fighting had erupted between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to his longtime rival, Riek Machar, who was also Kiir’s deputy president pre and post independence, over allegations that Machar was planning a coup.

Ethnic differences between the two (Kiir is Dinka while Machar is Nuer) also added to the tensions. Machar fled the capital, Juba, to form his own Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).

The SPLM and SPLM-IO fought for five years before reaching a peace agreement in August 2018. About 400,000 people were killed in the war. Uganda deployed troops to fight alongside Kiir’s SPLM, while the United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNMISS), which was in place following independence, worked to protect civilians.

This year, a power-sharing deal has unravelled, however, and fighting has again broken out between South Sudanese forces and the White Army, a Nuer armed group which the government alleges is backed by Machar, in Nasir County, in the northeast of the country.

In March, Uganda again deployed special forces to fight alongside Kiir’s forces as fears of another civil war mounted. Kiir ordered Machar to be placed under house arrest and also detained several of his allies in the government.

Are there concerns about Uganda’s influence in South Sudan?

Some South Sudanese who support Vice President Machar, who is still under house arrest, are opposed to Uganda’s deployment of troops in the country, and say Kampala is overreaching.

Since the Monday skirmish with Ugandan troops, some South Sudanese have taken to Facebook to rail against the army for not condemning alleged territorial violations by Ugandan soldiers, and mocked the spokesman, Koang, for describing the nations as “sisterly”.

“I wish the escalation would continue,” one poster wrote. “The reason why South Sudan is not peaceful is because of Uganda’s interference in our country’s affairs.”

“What did South Sudan expect when they cheaply sold their sovereignty to Uganda?” another commenter added.

Since joining forces to fight the rebel White Army, South Sudanese forces and the Ugandan Army have been accused by Machar and local authorities in Nasir State of using chemical weapons, namely barrel bombs containing a flammable liquid that they say has burned and killed civilians. Nicholas Haysom, head of the UN mission in South Sudan, confirmed that air strikes had been conducted with the bombs. However, Uganda has denied these allegations. The South Sudan army has not commented.

Forces local to Machar, including the White Army, have also been accused of targeting civilians. Dozens have died, and at least 100,000 have been displaced across northeastern South Sudan since March.

In May, Amnesty International said Uganda’s deployment and supply of arms to South Sudan violated a UN arms embargo on the country, which was part of the 2018 peace deal, and called on the UN Security Council to enforce the clause.

Thailand’s military said the detained Cambodian troops will be returned home after ‘legal procedures’ are completed.

Cambodia has called on Thailand to return 20 of its soldiers who were taken captive by Thai forces hours after a ceasefire that halted days of deadly cross-border clashes over disputed territory between the Southeast Asian neighbours.

Cambodian Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Maly Socheata said on Thursday that talks were under way for the release of 20 soldiers, though reports from Thailand indicate that the Royal Thai Army wants the detainees to face the “legal process” before repatriation.

“We will do our best to continue negotiations with the Thai side in order to bring all our soldiers back home safely and as soon as possible,” the spokesperson told a news briefing.

“We call on the Thai side to send all 20 military personnel back to Cambodia as soon as possible,” she said.

According to reports, the group of Cambodian troops were captured at about 7:50am local time on Tuesday (00:50 GMT) after crossing into Thai-held territory – nearly eight hours after a ceasefire came into effect between the two countries.

Speaking to the media at the headquarters of the Royal Thai Army on Thursday, army spokesperson Major-General Winthai Suvaree said the commander of Thailand’s Second Army Region had assured that the Cambodian detainees – which numbered 18 – would be dealt with under international legal conditions.

“The soldiers would be swiftly returned once the legal procedures are completed,” Thailand’s The Nation newspaper reported the army spokesperson as saying.

The Nation also added that the exact nature of the legal proceedings the Cambodian troops will face was not immediately known, but the Thai military’s “firm position suggests a comprehensive review of the incident is underway”.

Thailand’s government said on Wednesday that the detained Cambodian soldiers were being treated in line with international humanitarian law and military regulations, and that they would be returned to Cambodia when the border situation stabilises.

Nearly 300,000 people fled their homes on both sides of the Thai-Cambodia border as the two opposing armies clashed for days with long-range rockets and artillery in what is largely a border area of jungle and agricultural land. Thai jet fighters also attacked Cambodian positions.

Thailand has confirmed that 15 of its soldiers and 15 civilians were killed in the fighting – which was the heaviest in decades – while Cambodia said eight civilians and five of its soldiers died.

Despite accusations of truce violations by both sides, the ceasefire – which was facilitated by Malaysia – has held since Tuesday.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk has urged Bangkok and Phnom Penh to implement their ceasefire deal in full and take rapid steps to build confidence and peace with each other.

“This crucial agreement must be fully respected, in good faith, by both sides, as diplomatic efforts continue, in a bid to resolve the root causes of the conflict,” Turk said.

The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to an “unconditional” ceasefire, effective on Monday at midnight, in a bid to bring an end to their deadliest border conflict in more than a decade.

Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet agreed to put down their arms after five days of fierce fighting that killed at least 36 people.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who hosted the talks in Malaysia’s administrative capital, Putrajaya, said that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire.

“This is a vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security,” Anwar declared. A meeting between the military commanders of both nations will follow on Tuesday, he added.

The ceasefire will come into force at midnight (17:00 GMT) as Monday becomes Tuesday.

Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for the border conflict that erupted on Thursday, July 24. The latest conflict, which dates back to disagreements over colonial-era maps, has displaced more than 270,000 from both sides of the Thailand-Cambodia 817-km (508-mile) land border.

What did rival leaders say?

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet said: “Today we have a very good meeting and very good results … that hope to stop immediately the fighting that has caused many lives lost, injuries and also caused displacement of people.”

“We hope that the solutions that Prime Minister Anwar just announced will set a condition for moving forward for our bilateral discussion to return to normalcy of the relationship, and as a foundation for future de-escalation of forces,” he added.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who had expressed doubts about Cambodia’s sincerity ahead of negotiations in Malaysia, said Thailand had agreed to a ceasefire that would “be carried out successfully in good faith by both sides”.

In a joint statement issued after the talks had finished, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia said their respective defence ministers “have been instructed to develop a detailed mechanism for the implementation, verification, and reporting of the ceasefire”.

The sides also agreed to move ahead with a meeting of their so-called “General Border Committee” on August 4, in Cambodia.

Why were the two countries fighting?

The Southeast Asian neighbours have accused each other of starting hostilities last week, before escalating the conflict with heavy artillery bombardments.

Fighting began between the South Asian neighbours on July 24, following weeks of tensions which had been brewing since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in an armed confrontation on the border.

In February, a dispute over Prasat Ta Moan Thom, a Khmer temple close to the border in Thailand, intensified when Thai police stopped Cambodian tourists from singing their national anthem near the holy site.

Since the start of the year, Thailand’s Interior Ministry says more than 138,000 people have been evacuated from regions bordering Cambodia. On the other side, more than 20,000 Cambodians have been evacuated, according to local media.

Reporting from Thailand’s border province of Surin on Monday, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said the ceasefire announcement is welcome news for many people, especially those living along the border who have been displaced.

“There are so many people who have been affected by this, and they just want to go home so badly,” he said on Monday.

But Cheng also reported that clashes were still occurring on both sides of the border, even as the talks in Malaysia had concluded.

What role did the US and China play?

Diplomats from the United States and China were also present at the meeting in Malaysia.

Hun Manet, Cambodia’s PM, said on Monday that the meeting had been “co-organised by the United States and with participation of China”.

China has strong economic links to Thailand and Cambodia, and is a close political ally of the latter.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday welcomed the ceasefire. “The United States applauds the ceasefire declaration between Cambodia and Thailand announced today in Kuala Lumpur,” Rubio said in a statement.

“We urge all parties to follow through on their commitments.”

In separate calls with Phumtham and Hun Manet on Saturday, Trump had threatened that Washington would not reach trade deals with either country as long as fighting continued.

“We’re not going to make a trade deal unless you settle the war,” Trump said on Sunday, adding that both leaders expressed willingness to negotiate after speaking with him directly.

Both Thailand and Cambodia face the prospect of a 36 percent US tariff from August 1.

In their remarks after the meeting, both Phumtham and Hun Manet thanked Anwar and Trump, as well as China, for helping reach the ceasefire.

Acting Thai Premier Phumtham Wechayachai accuses Cambodia of ‘not acting in good faith’ ahead of crucial talks.

A meeting to secure a ceasefire following days of a deadly border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia is under way in Malaysia, says a Malaysian official.

Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet are holding ceasefire talks on Monday in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya at the official residence of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the chair of the regional bloc ASEAN.

The talks between the leaders of the two warring Southeast Asian countries are aimed to halt fighting that has killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 270,000 from both sides of the Thailand-Cambodia border.

The ambassadors of the United States and China were also present at the meeting, the Malaysian official said on Monday, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.

Meanwhile, clashes continue in several areas along Thailand’s disputed border with Cambodia for a fifth day.

In a post on X earlier on Monday, Hun said the purpose of the talks is to achieve an immediate ceasefire in the conflict with Thailand.

However, Phumtham, before departing Bangkok on Monday, told reporters: “We do not believe Cambodia is acting in good faith, based on their actions in addressing the issue. They need to demonstrate genuine intent, and we will assess that during the meeting.”

Thai army spokesperson Colonel Richa Suksuwanon told reporters earlier on Monday that fighting continues along the border, as gunfire could be heard at dawn in Samrong in Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province, The Associated Press news agency reported.

On Sunday, Thailand said one person was killed and another injured after Cambodia fired a rocket in Sisaket province.

Thailand’s military also reported that Cambodian snipers were camping in one of the contested temples, and accused Phnom Penh of surging troops along the border and hammering Thai territory with rockets.

Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence spokeswoman Maly Socheata on Monday accused Thailand of deploying “a lot of troops” and firing “heavy weapons” into the Cambodian territory.

Socheata claimed that before dawn on Monday, the Thai military targeted areas near the ancient Ta Muen Thom and the Ta Kwai temples, which Cambodia claims are its territory but are being disputed by Thailand.

She also accused the Thai military of firing smoke bombs from aircraft over Cambodian territory and heavy weapons at its soldiers, adding that Cambodian troops “were able to successfully repel the attacks”.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Thailand’s border province of Surin, said the mediators have been “very reluctant” to acknowledge the holding of talks in the Malaysian capital.

“The Malaysian Foreign Ministry was incredibly nervous. Last week, they had said that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had brokered a peace deal only to be shot down very quickly by the Thai Foreign Ministry,” Cheng said.

Still, Cheng said a mounting death toll and the number of displaced people could give the two leaders the “motivation” to resolve the crisis peacefully.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said US officials “are on the ground in Malaysia to assist these peace efforts”, while Anwar told domestic media he would focus on securing an “immediate ceasefire”.

The death toll on both sides now stands at 32, as fears grow of a larger conflict breaking out between the neighbours.

Cambodian officials have reported another 12 people killed as a result of the ongoing border dispute with Thailand, with the death toll on both sides now standing at 32, as fears grow that the Southeast Asian neighbours may become engulfed in an extended conflict.

Cambodian Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Maly Socheata told reporters on Saturday that seven more civilians and five soldiers were confirmed dead. One other Cambodian man was earlier reported killed when Thai rockets hit the Buddhist pagoda he was hiding in on Thursday.

At least 50 Cambodian civilians and more than 20 soldiers have also been injured, the spokesperson said.

Thailand has reported 13 civilians – including children – as well as six soldiers killed over the past two days of fighting. An additional 29 Thai soldiers and 30 civilians have also been wounded in Cambodian attacks.

Cambodian newspaper The Khmer Times, quoting officials in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province, said about 20,000 residents have so far been evacuated from the country’s northern border with Thailand.

More than 138,000 people have also been evacuated from Thailand’s border regions, with about 300 evacuation centres opened, according to Thai officials. On Friday, Thailand declared martial law in eight districts along the border with Cambodia.

The decades-old conflict – centred around a contested section of the Thai-Cambodian border – re-erupted on Thursday after a landmine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers.

Tensions spilled over on Thursday with Thailand and Cambodia carrying out direct attacks on one another’s territory, with both sides accusing the other of opening fire first.

Thailand said the Cambodian military launched long-range rockets at civilian targets in the country, including a strike on a petrol station that killed at least six people.

The Thai military then scrambled an F-16 fighter jet to bomb targets in Cambodia, including the reported strike on the Buddhist pagoda, which resulted in one civilian casualty.

Cambodia has accused Thailand of using a large number of cluster munitions – a controversial and widely condemned weapon – calling it a clear violation of international law.

Phumtham Wechayachai, Thailand’s acting prime minister, said on Friday that Cambodia may be guilty of war crimes due to the deaths of civilians, as well as damage caused to a hospital.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held an emergency meeting focused on the clashes behind closed doors late on Friday in New York, but did not issue an official public statement after the meeting.

The Associated Press news agency, citing an unnamed council diplomat, reported that all 15 UNSC members called on the parties to de-escalate fighting, show restraint and resolve the dispute peacefully.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman tells Al Jazeera direct talks with Cambodia are priority as deadly clashes continue.

Thailand has called for a peaceful resolution to deadly border fighting with Cambodia, saying it prefers to settle the matter through bilateral dialogue while leaving the door open to potential involvement from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) if necessary.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said on Friday that the situation on the ground had improved slightly although clashes had resulted in casualties. “The fighting is continuing since yesterday although the situation today seems to be a little bit better from yesterday,” he said.

Thailand has tried to reach out to the Cambodian government in the hopes of easing tensions, Nikorndej told Al Jazeera. “We have always insisted we want to resolve this matter peacefully through bilateral mechanisms. … Very unfortunately, the Cambodian side has not reacted positively.”

While Thailand insists it has the tools to resolve the issue bilaterally, it has not ruled out future mediation by regional partners. “Our doors have always been open to talks. … We are still waiting for positive reactions from the Cambodian side,” Nikorndej said.

On possible third-party mediation, he added: “It’s a bit too premature for me right now to say that we are ready for any mediation, … but if we are going to talk about anyone to step in and help, countries in ASEAN … would be best suited.”

Malaysia, which currently chairs ASEAN, has reached out to both sides. Nikorndej confirmed that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has spoken to his Thai counterpart, acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, to discuss potential regional engagement.

At least 13 Thai civilians and one soldier have been killed and 45 people have been wounded, including women and children, as fighting continues along the disputed frontier. “We are defending our territorial integrity and the Thai people,” Nikorndej added. Cambodia has reported one death on its side.

Nikorndej said the Thai military came under direct fire, which contributed to the current escalation. In response, the government has opened evacuation shelters, deployed medical teams and distributed aid to civilians displaced by the clashes.

Cambodia has alleged that Thailand first opened fire on Thursday, igniting the fighting.

Thailand has evacuated at least 100,000 people from areas near its eastern border with Cambodia, as shelling and gunfire displace civilians, reviving memories of past conflicts. Cambodian officials said about 20,000 people have evacuated from the country’s northern border.

Cambodia first took the contentious border issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1963. In 2011, Cambodia again went to the ICJ in relation to the Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The ICJ ruled in Cambodia’s favour and handed it control of the immediate area around the temple in 2013.

However, the court did not address any of the other disputed areas, especially those within the “Emerald Triangle”, a shared border region between Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, where troops also frequently clash.

Thailand has refused to acknowledge the ICJ’s jurisdiction in this issue. Tensions have simmered until this year’s acute escalation.

Desperate evacuees, huddled on plastic mats in a sports hall in Thailand, have described fleeing from thunderous artillery bombardments as heavy fighting has escalated between Thailand and Cambodia.

The worst fighting in more than a decade between the neighbouring countries has forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate from their homes across four Thai border provinces by Friday.

As artillery fire echoed on Thursday, thousands from northeastern Surin province abandoned their homes for makeshift shelters established in the town centre.

Nearly 3,000 people crowded the sports hall of Surindra Rajabhat University, packed onto rows of plastic mats covered with colourful blankets and hastily gathered possessions.

“I’m worried about our home, our animals, and the crops we’ve worked so hard on,” Thidarat Homhuan, 37, told the AFP news agency.

She evacuated with nine family members, including her 87-year-old grandmother who had just been released from hospital.

“That concern is still there. But being here does feel safer, since we’re further from the danger zone now. At least we’re safe,” she said.

Thidarat was babysitting at a local school when she heard what she described as “something like machinegun fire”, followed by heavy artillery thuds.

“It was chaos. The kids were terrified. I rushed to the school’s bunker,” she said.

Inside the shelter, evacuees slept alongside one another beneath the gym’s high ceiling, surrounded by electric fans humming and the quiet whispers of uncertainty.

Elderly residents lay wrapped in blankets, infants slept in cradles, while children played quietly. Pet cats rested in mesh crates near the public restroom.

This marks the first full activation of the university as a shelter, according to Chai Samoraphum, director of the university president’s office.

Classes were immediately cancelled, and within an hour, the campus transformed into a functioning evacuation centre.

Evacuees from four border districts were distributed across six locations throughout the campus.

“Most of them left in a hurry. Some have chronic health conditions but didn’t bring their medications, others only managed to grab a few belongings,” Chai told AFP.

The centre, with assistance from the provincial hospital, is providing care for those with chronic illnesses and offering mental health services for trauma victims, Chai explained.

The border fighting has killed at least 14 people in Thailand, including one soldier and civilians killed in a rocket strike near a Sisaket province petrol station, officials reported. One Cambodian has also been confirmed killed.

As fighting continues near the border, evacuees face uncertainty about when they can return home.

For now, the shelter provides safety and a place to await signals that it’s safe to “go back to normal life”, Thidarat said.

She already has a message for the authorities: “I want the government to take decisive action – do not wait until lives are lost.

“Civilians look up to the government for protection, and we rely on them deeply,” she said.

Across the border in Cambodia, about 20,000 residents have evacuated from the country’s northern border with Thailand, the Khmer Times news organisation said, quoting officials in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province.

At least 11 people have been killed in deadly clashes along the Thai-Cambodian border between both countries’ troops and involving heavy weapons, rockets and fighter jets on Thursday.

The outbreak of fighting between the South Asian neighbours follows weeks of tensions which have been brewing since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in an armed confrontation on the border. In February, a dispute over Prasat Ta Moan Thon, a Khmer temple close to the border in Thailand, intensified when Thai police stopped Cambodian tourists from singing their national anthem at the contested site.

Shelling damaged hospitals and other civilian locations in Thailand during Thursday’s fighting, resulting in deaths and injuries, according to statements from the government. Thailand said it had retaliated with air attacks, but it is not yet clear if there have been casualties in Cambodia.

Each side blames the other for launching the first attack, as they have cut diplomatic relations with each other. Thailand said it had closed all border crossings with Cambodia.

Here’s what we know about the clashes so far:

What has happened and where?

Armed fighting broke out on Thursday morning near the disputed, ancient Prasat Ta Moan Thom Temple in Surin province, Thailand, very close to the border with Cambodia, where tensions have been running high in recent weeks.

It’s unclear yet who fired the first shot, with each side blaming the other.

The Thai military accused Cambodian soldiers of “provocation”.

Cambodian troops deployed a surveillance drone at 7:35am (00:35 GMT) before soldiers with rocket launchers approached a Thai military post, according to the Thai military. Thereafter, Cambodian forces opened fire towards the eastern side of the temple, 200 metres (650ft) from the Thai military base, and also targeted a local community with rockets, the Thai military said.

Deputy army spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon told reporters that air attacks were launched in response, including six F-16 fighter jets which attacked sites over the border in Cambodia and reportedly destroyed two military targets.

However, Cambodian defence officials denied that their troops fired first and said the country only responded after Thai troops launched an “armed assault on Cambodian forces”.

Spokeswoman Maly Socheata accused Thailand of violating Cambodia’s territorial integrity and said Cambodian troops “exercised their right to defend their sovereignty” after Thai fighter jets dropped two bombs on a road.

How many casualties have there been?

At least 11 people have been killed in Thailand – mostly civilians – the Ministry of Public Health said. An eight-year-old child was among the dead.

Six people were killed and 10 were wounded in one strike when a Cambodian rocket hit a busy gas station in Sisaket province, the Thai army said in a statement.

Three other deaths were recorded in Surin and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.

It is still unknown if there have been any casualties in Cambodia.

Why has fighting broken out?

Thai-Cambodia relations are at their worst in more than a decade.

The 818km (508-mile) border between the two countries has long been a source of tension and rivalry, as they both dispute demarcations drawn in 1907, during French colonial rule in Cambodia. There have been skirmishes before, but this is the first time fighter jets have been involved, marking a significant escalation.

The border areas are replete with centuries-old historical temples, some of which are claimed by both sides.

Although the establishment of a demilitarised zone has been discussed in the past, there are no formal zones in place now.

Troops from both sides clashed in 2011 near the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, killing 15-20 people and causing the displacement of thousands.

Cambodia first took the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1963. In 2011, Cambodia again went to the ICJ in relation to the Preah Vihear Temple. The ICJ ruled in Cambodia’s favour and handed it control of the immediate area around the temple in 2013.

However, the court did not address any of the other disputed areas, especially those within the “Emerald Triangle”, a shared border region between Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, where troops also frequently clash.

Thailand has refused to acknowledge the ICJ’s jurisdiction in this issue. Tensions have simmered until this year’s escalation.

“The whole situation has been spiralling downwards for weeks, with Cambodia laying landmines that injured Thai soldiers, and Bangkok’s expulsion of the Cambodian ambassador was apparently the last straw,” Phil Robertson, director of the Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates Consultancy, told Al Jazeera.

“So now the question is really how long will both sides continue fighting, and how many civilians will get killed in the indiscriminate crossfire that is already apparent,” he added.

How have tensions escalated between Thailand and Cambodia this year?

• On February 13, Cambodian soldiers escorted 25 civilians to the Prasat Ta Moan Thon Temple, where they reportedly sang the Cambodian national anthem. Thai military officials said they stopped the tourists from singing, on the basis that it violated mutual agreements about tourist protocols.
• On February 17, the Thai army sent a warning letter to the Cambodian military, accusing it of “inappropriate behaviour” and instructing it not to repeat the incident of February 13. In a statement, the Thai Ministry of National Defence said the temple was officially in Thai territory and that while Cambodian citizens could visit, singing the country’s national anthem “raises concerns”.
• On May 28, both sides clashed in the disputed border area of the Emerald Triangle, leaving one Cambodian soldier dead. The tri-border area connects Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. Again, each side blamed the other for starting the violence.
• On June 12, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet announced that Cambodia would stop relying on Thai electricity and internet infrastructure due to “threats”. Cambodian TV stations stopped broadcasting Thai movies, and Cambodia also blocked imports of fuel and gas, as well as fruit and vegetables, from Thailand.
• On June 14, officials from both countries met in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for talks. However, no concrete agreement for peace was reached. Both countries instead boosted border security and tightened checks at crossings.
• On June 15, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is the country’s youngest premier at 38, held a call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen and discussed the tensions. Hun Sen is the father of the current prime minister, Hun Manet.
• On June 26, Thailand ordered operators to stop providing broadband and mobile internet connections to Cambodia.
• On July 1, Shinawatra was suspended after her phone call with Hun Sen was leaked to the public. In it, Shinawatra appeared to criticise the Thai military’s actions, signalling discord between the government and the army. Pro-military protesters have since called for her resignation.
• On July 16, a Thai soldier lost a leg in a landmine explosion while on patrol in First was in the Chong Bok area of Nam Zuen district, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, escalating tensions.
• On July 23, a second blast injured five Thai soldiers near Chong An Ma point, in Ubon Ratchathani province, causing a second soldier to lose a leg. Thailand immediately recalled its ambassador to Cambodia and shut border checkpoints at Chong An Ma, Chong Sa-ngam, Chong Chom and Chong Sai Takoo. Ta Moan Thom and Ta Kwai temples were also closed.
• On July 24, violence erupted between the two sides, involving heavy weapons and air attacks. Cambodia also recalled its diplomatic staff in Thailand.

What does each side say about the conflict?

Thailand’s acting premier, Phumtham Wechayachai, said in a statement on Thursday that the dispute was “delicate” and must be resolved according to international law.

Suspended Prime Minister Shinawatra – who is also the culture minister – condemned Cambodia, in a news briefing, for opening fire and accused the country of allowing the situation to escalate beyond diplomatic levels.

“We have always respected international protocols, but now Cambodia has forced our hand. We may have to take actions we have tried to avoid in the past,” she said.

For his part, Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Manet, has urged an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to stop “Thailand’s aggression”. Manet said Thai forces launched “unprovoked, premeditated and deliberate attacks” on the Cambodian border, violating international law.

“Facing this flagrant aggression, Cambodian troops had no option but to respond in self-defence in order to safeguard Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Manet wrote in a letter to UNSC President Asin Iftikhar Ahmad.

“It is profoundly reprehensible that this act of aggression occurs while Cambodia is actively pursuing peaceful and impartial legal avenues to resolve outstanding border issues with Thailand through both bilateral and international mechanisms,” he added.

Both countries have closed borders and announced evacuations of their citizens from the border zones. The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh urged citizens to leave Cambodia.

What reactions have there been from other nations and international bodies?

The United States and China issued warnings to their citizens to be vigilant in the border areas.

The US embassy in Thailand urged Americans to heed advice from Thai authorities, who commenced evacuation from the worst-hit areas on Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters at a news conference on Thursday that China is “deeply concerned” about escalating tensions between its neighbours, and stressed the importance of “maintaining friendly relations” with “long-term interests on both sides”.

China will “continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace and dialogue to help ease tensions”, the spokesperson said.

Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia and current chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Thailand and Cambodia are members, said he would engage both sides in negotiations.

“I have sent messages to both prime ministers and look forward to speaking with them later today or tonight,” he told reporters.

“The least we can expect is for them to stand down and hopefully try to enter into negotiation,” Ibrahim said, calling the situation “worrying” and describing Thailand and Cambodia as key ASEAN members.

Will this situation escalate further?

Robertson of AHRLA said the situation would likely “get worse before it gets better”.

Bad blood between Cambodian PM Hun Sen and former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, respectively the fathers of both countries’ current leaders, could add to the political will to continue fighting, Robertson said.

Although Thaksin and Hun Sen were longtime allies, Robertson said Hun Sen’s leaking of the recording of  the damaging phone call between him and Thaksin’s daughter, suspended PM Shinawatra, means “the gloves are now off between the two sides.

“Right now, neither side wants to be seen as conceding any ground to the other, so the fighting is likely to continue for some time, primarily in the form of firing across the border with artillery and firefights across the border in disputed areas,” he said.

Robertson added: “We’re not going to see either side invade the other, but the damage will be lasting and it’s hard to see how this will be mediated towards peace, at least in the short-to-medium term.”

Kyiv, Ukraine – Nadiya escaped the rapists and killers only because her father hid her in a haystack amidst the shooting, shouting and bloodshed that took place 82 years ago.

“He covered me with hay and told me not to get out no matter what,” the 94-year-old woman told Al Jazeera – and asked to withhold her last name and personal details.

On July 11, 1943, members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA), a nationalist paramilitary group armed with axes, knives and guns, stormed Nadiya’s village on the Polish-Ukrainian border, killing ethnic Polish men and raping women.

“They also killed anyone who tried to protect the Poles,” Nadiya said.

The nonagenarian is frail and doesn’t go out much, but her face, framed by milky white hair, lights up when she recalls the names and birthdays of her grand- and great-grandchildren.

She also remembers the names of her neighbours who were killed or forced to flee to Poland, even though her parents never spoke about the attack, now known as the Volyn massacre.

“The Soviets forbade it,” Nadiya said, noting how Moscow demonised the UIA, which kept fighting the Soviets until the early 1950s.

Nadiya said her account may enrage today’s Ukrainian nationalists who lionise fighters of the UIA for having championed freedom from Moscow during World War II.

After Communist purges, violent atheism, forced collectivisation and a famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, the UIA leaders chose what they thought was the lesser of two evils. They sided with Nazi Germany, which invaded the USSR in 1941.

In the end, though, the Nazis refused to carve out an independent Ukraine and threw one of the UIA’s leaders, Stepan Bandera, into a concentration camp.

But another UIA leader, Roman Shukhevych, was accused of playing a role in the Holocaust – and in the mass killings of ethnic Poles in what is now the western Ukrainian region of Volyn and adjacent areas in 1943.

Genocide?

Up to 100,000 civilian Poles, including women and children, were stabbed, axed, beaten or burned to death during the Volyn massacre, according to survivors, Polish historians and officials who consider it a “genocide”.

“What’s horrifying isn’t the numbers but the way the murders were carried out,” Robert Derevenda of the Polish Institute of National Memory told Polskie Radio on July 11.

This year, the Polish parliament decreed July 11 as “The Volyn Massacre Day” in remembrance of the 1943 killings.

“A martyr’s death for just being Polish deserves to be commemorated,” the bill said.

“From Poland’s viewpoint, yes, this is a tragedy of the Polish people, and Poland is fully entitled to commemorate it,” Kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevych told Al Jazeera.

However, rightist Polish politicians may use the day to promote anti-Ukrainian narratives, and a harsh response from Kyiv may further trigger tensions, he said.

“All of these processes ideally should be a matter of discussion among historians, not politicians,” he added.

Ukrainian politicians and historians, meanwhile, call the Volyn massacre a “tragedy”. They cite a lower death toll and accuse the Polish army of the reciprocal killing of tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians.

In post-Soviet Ukraine, UIA leaders Bandera and Shukhevych have often been hailed as national heroes, and hundreds of streets, city squares and other landmarks are named after them.

Evolving views and politics

“[The USSR] branded ‘Banderite’ any proponent of Ukraine’s independence or even any average person who stood for the legitimacy of public representation of Ukrainian culture,” Kyiv-based human rights advocate Vyacheslav Likhachyov told Al Jazeera.

The demonisation backfired when many advocates of Ukraine’s independence began to sympathise with Bandera and the UIA, “turning a blind eye to their radicalism, xenophobia and political violence”, he said.

In the 2000s, anti-Russian Ukrainian leaders began to celebrate the UIA, despite objections from many Ukrainians, especially in the eastern and southern regions.

These days, the UIA is seen through a somewhat myopic prism of Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia, according to Likhachyov.

Ukraine’s political establishment sees the Volyn massacre and armed skirmishes between Ukrainians and Poles as only “a war related to the Ukrainians’ ‘fight for their land’”, according to Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher at Bremen University in Germany.

“And during a war, they say, anything happens, and a village, where the majority is on the enemy’s side, is considered a ‘legitimate target’,” he explained.

Many right-leaning Ukrainian youngsters “fully accepted” Bandera’s radicalism and the cult of militant nationalism, he said.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, thousands of far-right nationalists rallied throughout Ukraine to commemorate Bandera’s January 1 birthday.

“Bandera is our father, Ukraine is our mother,” they chanted.

Within hours, the Polish and Israeli embassies issued declarations in protest, reminding them of the UIA’s role in the Holocaust and the Volyn massacre.

Far-right activists began volunteering to fight Moscow-backed separatists in southeastern Ukraine in 2014 and enlisted in droves in 2022.

“In the situational threat to [Ukraine’s] very existence, there’s no room for reflection and self-analysis,” rights advocate Likhachyov said.

Warsaw, meanwhile, will keep using the Volyn massacre to make demands for concessions while threatening to oppose Ukraine’s integration into the European Union, he said.

As for Moscow, it “traditionally plays” the dispute to sow discord between Kyiv and Warsaw, analyst Tyshkevych said, and to accuse Ukrainian leaders of “neo-Nazi” proclivities.

Is reconciliation possible?

Today, memories of the Volyn massacre remain deeply contested. For many Ukrainians, the UIA’s image as freedom fighters has been bolstered by Russia’s 2022 invasion, somewhat pushing aside reflection on the group’s role in the World War II atrocities.

For Poland, commemoration of the massacre has become a marker of national trauma and, at times, a point of leverage in political disputes with Ukraine.

In April, Polish experts began exhuming the remnants of the Volyn massacre victims in the western Ukrainian village of Puzhniky after Kyiv lifted a seven-year moratorium on such exhumations. Some believe this may be a first step in overcoming the tensions over the Volyn massacre.

Reconciliation, historians say, won’t come easily.

“The way to reconciliation is often painful and requires people to accept historical realities they’re uncomfortable with,” Ivar Dale, a senior policy adviser with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, a human rights watchdog, told Al Jazeera.

“Both [Poland and Ukraine] are modern European democracies that  can handle an objective investigation of past atrocities in ways that a country like Russia unfortunately can not,” he said.