Bangkok, 25 July 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Fighting flared again on Friday along the Thailand-Cambodia border, where long-standing tensions have escalated into some of the worst violence in years, forcing over 100,000 people to flee.

Thailand's military warned on Facebook of ongoing clashes in multiple border areas and urged residents in north-eastern provinces to urgently stay away.

The Khaosod newspaper quoted a military spokesman as saying that Cambodia had been shelling Thailand at various border locations with field artillery and BM-21 rockets since the early hours of the morning. Thailand was responding "accordingly," the spokesman said.

It followed heavy fighting on Thursday, when Thai forces said they launched airstrikes on Cambodian positions in response to cross-border gunfire. Cambodia retaliated with artillery, including strikes on civilian areas.

The death toll in Thailand has risen to 15 - all of them civilians apart from one soldier - and 46 people were injured, the Thai government said. Authorities evacuated 100,000 residents from four provinces, relocating them to around 300 evacuation centres.

According to the Thai military, at least 24 Cambodian soldiers have been killed.

The two South East Asian neighbours have disputed sections of their more than 800-kilometre border for decades. The conflict centres on the temple of Prasat Preah Vihear, a UNESCO World Heritage site that both countries claim.

The disputed temple is said to have been damaged in the fighting: "The attacks, which included both artillery shelling and airstrikes, have caused severe damage to the sacred site, which holds immense cultural, historical, and spiritual significance for the Cambodian people," Cambodia's Ministry of Culture said.

Each side has blamed the other for initiating the latest round of fighting. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Thursday called on the UN Security Council to urgently convene over what he described as an unprovoked, deliberate, and targeted attack on Cambodia.

The council is expected to meet on the issue on Friday.

The United States expressed deep concern over the situation at the border. "We are particularly alarmed by reports of harm to innocent civilians," the US Embassy in Bangkok said in a statement.

"We strongly urge the immediate cessation of attacks, protection of civilians, and peaceful settlement of disputes."

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