Flora Drury and Gavin Butler<\/span>BBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Simmering tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have once again exploded along their shared border, derailing a fragile ceasefire backed by US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n At least three Thai soldiers and seven Cambodian civilians have been killed since Monday, with the countries accusing one another of starting the violence.<\/p>\n The clashes, which have also seen Thailand launch airstrikes along the border, are the most serious since the ceasefire was agreed in July.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This is not a recent dispute. The argument between Thailand and Cambodia dates back more than a century, when the borders of the two nations were drawn after the French occupation of Cambodia.<\/p>\n Hostilities escalated in 2008, when Cambodia tried to register an 11th Century temple located in the disputed area as a Unesco World Heritage Site. The move was met with heated protest from Thailand.<\/p>\n Over the years there have been sporadic clashes, with soldiers and civilians killed on both sides.<\/p>\n The latest tensions ramped up in May, after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash. This plunged relations between the countries to their lowest point in more than a decade.<\/p>\n In the run up to the first bout of fighting in July<\/a>, both nations had imposed border restrictions. Cambodia banned imports from Thailand, including fruit and vegetables, power supplies and internet services.<\/p>\n Both countries had also strengthened troop presence along the border in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The two sides have given differing versions of what happened.<\/p>\n On Monday 8 December, the Thai army said its troops had responded to Cambodian fire in Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani Province. It said that a Thai soldier had been killed. <\/p>\n The Thai army said that it had also launched air strikes on military targets along the disputed border.<\/p>\n However, Cambodia’s defence ministry said it was Thai forces that had attacked first, in Preah Vihear province. Cambodia also insisted that it did not retaliate. <\/p>\n The next day, Thailand’s military accused Cambodia of firing rockets and using bomb-dropping drones and kamikaze drones against Thai soldiers, with some rockets reportedly hitting civilian areas.<\/p>\n It later confirmed it had carried out more airstrikes. <\/p>\n Cambodia has also accused Thailand of firing indiscriminately into civilian areas in its border Pursat Province.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Both sides exchanged gunfire, with each claiming the other had triggered the conflict. <\/p>\n It escalated quickly, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of firing rockets and Bangkok carrying out air strikes on Cambodian military targets.<\/p>\n At least 48 people were killed and thousands displaced during five days of fighting.<\/p>\n Trump then intervened and, with the help of Malaysia, negotiated a ceasefire.<\/p>\n The US president later oversaw the signing of what he dubbed “the Kuala Lumpar peace accord” in October. Thailand refused to call it that – instead referring to it as “Joint Declaration by the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia on the outcomes of their meeting in Kuala Lumpur”.<\/p>\n Both agreed to withdraw their heavy weapons from the disputed region, and to establish an interim observer team to monitor it.<\/p>\n The next step was supposed to include the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers held in Thailand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Thailand paused the agreement in November, with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul saying the security threat “has not actually decreased”.<\/p>\n At the time, Cambodia said it remained committed to the terms of the deal.<\/p>\n After fighting broke out again in December, Thailand’s foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told the BBC the ceasefire was “not working” and that “the ball is in Cambodia’s court”.<\/p>\n However, Cambodia’s former prime minister Hun Sen said it had only returned fire late on Monday, in order to “respect the ceasefire”.<\/p>\n Trump, meanwhile, has called on both sides to respect the agreement, news agency Reuters said.<\/p>\n Where this leads next is unclear. <\/p>\n While there have been serious exchanges of fire in the past, they de-escalated relatively quickly.<\/p>\n Back in July, that was the path our correspondent Jonathan Head thought would be followed again.<\/p>\n However, he warned, there’s a lack of leadership with the strength and confidence to pull back from this confrontation in both countries at the moment.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20251203-121739-f954f14c69-web-2.35.1-2\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/6f5b\/live\/50946e00-d4d6-11f0-9fb5-5f3a3703a365.png.webp\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nWhat is the border dispute about?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Why have border tensions flared up again in December?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![\"AFP](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8187\/live\/c8db9810-d4e1-11f0-ad0f-1bf8c30d15bc.jpg.webp\")
AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nWhat happened during clashes in July?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What has happened to Trump’s ‘peace deal’?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n