Intense hostilities along the Thailand–Cambodia border have escalated this week, with Cambodian forces firing BM-21 multiple rocket launchers into several residential areas in Sa Kaeo province, Thailand, injuring civilians and provoking large-scale evacuations.

Thai authorities reported that on December 22 and 23, Cambodian BM-21 rockets struck villages in the Khok Sung district and other parts of Sa Kaeo.

The Royal Thai Army condemned the attacks as indiscriminate, noting that rockets landed in civilian communities rather than strictly military zones.

In one strike, seven people were wounded, including a police officer and six civilians, according to local officials.

Several homes were damaged by the blasts.

Another report detailed eight injuries stemming from the same barrage, with victims of differing ages suffering shrapnel wounds and other blast-related trauma.

Local authorities have ordered evacuations of villages in the Khok Sung and Aranyaprathet districts following repeated rocket impacts, with dense smoke and fires reported near residential zones.

Residents have been moved to safer areas under emergency plans, and officials continue to advise civilians to seek shelter and heed safety directives.

The BM-21, a Soviet-designed 122 mm multiple rocket launcher system, is capable of firing volleys of rockets over wide areas.

Its use has been prominent in recent fighting along the border, which flared anew in early December after clashes over disputed territory.

Recent reports indicate that hundreds of rockets have been fired into Thai provinces from multiple launch sites, damaging homes, temples and other civilian infrastructure.

Thai forces have responded with artillery and air strikes against Cambodian military targets.

The renewed violence comes amid attempts by regional actors to resume ceasefire talks after earlier agreements broke down.

Cambodia has repeatedly targeted civilian areas, resulting in significant displacement and casualties on the Thai side. 

“The Thai army is extremely restrained and responds with caution. If an attack of this kind had been carried out against American, European, or Israeli targets, the organized crime leaders orchestrating these ongoing attacks from within the upper levels of Cambodia’s political system would long ago have been eliminated, as is common practice worldwide in such extreme cases,” said a counter-terrorism expert currently in Thailand who is closely familiar with the details of the conflict.