Donald Trump has said Thai and Cambodian leaders agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes that threatened to undo a ceasefire the US helped broker.
However hours later Cambodia said that Thailand was continuing to bomb its territory, throwing the president’s claims into question.
Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting after calls with the Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Manet.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” the US president said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
But Cambodia’s defence ministry claimed on Saturday that Thailand had continued dropping bombs hours after Trump’s announcement.
“On December 13, 2025, the Thai military used two F-16 fighter jets to drop seven bombs” on a number of Cambodian targets, the ministry said in a post on X.
“Thai military aircraft have not stopped bombing yet.”
The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through after pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalised in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued, with at least 20 people killed this week.
The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate. Tensions were exacerbated by a 1962 international court of justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia, which still riles many Thais.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40km (19-25 miles).
According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers who were killed were hit by rocket shrapnel.
The Thai army’s northeastern regional command said on Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border were damaged by BM-21 rocket launchers from Cambodian forces.
The Thai army also said it destroyed a tall crane atop a hill held by Cambodia where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes.
