US calls on Thailand, Cambodia to end hostilities

International

THE United States has called on Thailand and Cambodia to “cease hostilities immediately” as renewed clashes along their disputed border have led to dozens of deaths and triggered massive displacement.

The appeal comes after days of intense fighting marked by airstrikes, artillery fire, and exchanges of gunfire — violence that has shattered a fragile ceasefire previously mediated by the US.

In a formal statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said both nations must return to the de-escalation measures agreed under the recent peace accord, protect civilians immediately and reopen channels for peaceful negotiation.

In a report by BBC, analysts warned the situation risks becoming the worst eruption of violence along the border since the mid-year clashes, given that more than half-a-million civilians have been forced to flee their homes across both countries.

The US call for calm is joined by mounting international concern, as the renewed hostilities threaten regional stability and risk drawing foreign partners deeper into diplomatic entanglements.

Both Thailand and Cambodia — long-standing neighbors with a history of territorial disputes — face growing pressure to step back from the brink before the border war further deteriorates.(Victoria Diana, USJ-R Comm Intern)