Renewed hostilities along the long-contested border between Thailand and Cambodia have taken on a distinctly humanitarian dimension, with both governments accusing the other of deliberately targeting civilian areas as heavy clashes persist.

The conflict, which erupted in early December and has intensified despite earlier ceasefire efforts, has seen airstrikes, artillery duels and rocket fire across multiple sectors of the 800-kilometre frontier, inflicting civilian deaths and prompting mass evacuations.

Thai officials reported that the conflict has caused the first civilian fatalities on their side, including three Thai civilians killed amid heavy fighting, and that forces had been forced to evacuate hundreds of thousands of residents across seven border provinces as fighting raged near populated districts.

The Thai military has maintained that its operations, including air strikes against Cambodian military infrastructure, are aimed at protecting territory and preventing attacks on civilian infrastructure, asserting that Cambodian forces used long-range multiple rocket launchers and other heavy weapons in areas near Thai homes.

Cambodia’s defence ministry, for its part, has strongly denied that its forces targeted civilian areas and instead accused Thai troops of violating international law by shelling villages and employing heavy weapons in ways that imperil non-combatants.

Phnom Penh also said that several of its civilians had been killed and wounded in what it characterised as Thai attacks on border communities.

Both sides’ allegations reflect the deep mistrust and competing narratives that have emerged as the clashes — the most intense since July’s five-day confrontation — continue unabated.

The fighting has not only strained bilateral relations but also raised alarm among regional and international actors, including calls from the Malaysian prime minister for renewed diplomatic engagement and U.S. efforts to mediate a ceasefire.

With hundreds of thousands of people displaced on both sides and significant damage to homes and infrastructure, the humanitarian impact of the conflict underscores the difficulty of containing violence in densely populated border regions where civilians are vulnerable to the effects of heavy weapon use and aerial bombardment.

Amid these dynamics, both Bangkok and Phnom Penh have reiterated their claims to sovereignty and self-defense, leaving observers to contend with sharply diverging accounts of responsibility for civilian harm as efforts continue, albeit with limited success, to restore peace along the frontier.