LOC18:33
15:33 GMT
KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (KUNA) -- Some 12 people, including a child, have been killed and 30 others injured when Cambodian troops opened fire in an area near the Ta Moan Thom temple along the northeastern border with Thailand, the Thai army said on Thursday.
Cambodian troops fired rockets and artillery shells into Thai civilian areas along the border, leaving tens of people either dead or injured and causing damage to infrastructure, according to a Thai army statement, underlining Bangkok's right to respond against Cambodian "violations" of basic humanitarian principles.
Slamming the "inhumane" Cambodian attacks, Thailand's Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told a press conference that such acts were "flagrant violations" of Thailand's sovereignty, citing a response plan to provide immediate aid to affected civilians.
In a press conference, Cambodian Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson Mali Socheata denied that her country's military had deliberately targeted Thai civilians, saying that the Cambodian attacks were acts of self-defense.
Thailand and Cambodia have downgraded diplomatic ties amid the ensuing conflict, after months of escalating tensions between the two Southeast Asian neighbors degenerated into armed clashes early on Thursday. (pickup previous)
aab.nam