Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodia as border clashes leave at least 14 dead

SURIN, Thailand (AP) — Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed along the border between their countries in a major escalation that left at least 14 people dead, mostly civilians. The two sides fired small arms, artillery and rockets, and Thailand also launched airstrikes.

Fighting took place in at least six areas on Thursday, according to Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri, a day after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers and led Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador from Cambodia and expel Cambodia’s envoy to Thailand.

On Friday, Cambodia's chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, Gen. Khov Ly, said clashes resumed early in the morning near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple. Associated Press reporters near the border could hear sounds of artillery from early morning hours.

The official also said that at least four civilians were wounded in Thursday's fighting there and that more than 4,000 people have been displaced from their villages along the border to evacuation centers. It was the first account of any casualties from the Cambodian side.

The escalation represents a rare instance of military conflict between member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation, though Thailand has tangled with Cambodia before over the border and has had sporadic skirmishes with western neighbor Myanmar.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides “to exercise maximum restraint and address any issues through dialogue," according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.

Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for the clashes, alleging that civilians were being targeted.

In Bangkok, the Public Health Ministry said a Thai soldier and 13 civilians, including children, were killed while 14 soldiers and 32 other civilians were injured. Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin condemned what he said were the attacks on civilians and a hospital as violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.

"We urge the Cambodian government to immediately halt these war criminal actions, and return to respecting the principles of peaceful coexistence,” he said.

Thailand’s Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the fighting affected four provinces. The Interior Ministry was ordered to evacuate people at least 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border.

In Cambodia, several hundred villagers moved from their homes near the border to about 30 kilometers (18 miles) deeper inside Oddar Meanchey province. Many made the journey with entire families and most of their possessions on home-made tractors, before settling down with hammocks and makeshift shelters.

From the encampment near the town of Samrong, a 45-year-old mother of four, Tep Savouen, said it all started about 8 a.m.

“Suddenly I heard a loud noise," she told the AP. "My son told me it might be thunder and I thought ’Is it thunder or is it loud, more like a gun?′ At that time I was very scared.”

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said the government was “prepared to intensify our self-defense measures if Cambodia persists in its armed aggression and violations upon Thailand’s sovereignty.”

In the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, Defense Ministry spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said his country deployed armed force because “it has no choice but to defend its territory against Thai threats." The spokesperson insisted the Cambodian "attacks are focused on the military places, not on any other place.”

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote to the U.N. Security Council asking for an urgent meeting “to stop Thailand’s aggression.” The council scheduled an emergency closed meeting at 3 p.m. in New York on Friday.

Thailand also sealed all land border crossings while urging its citizens to leave Cambodia. Officials said all seven Thai airlines expressed willingness to help bring back any Thai nationals seeking to return home from Cambodia.

The two Southeast Asian neighbors have long had border disputes, which periodically flare along their 800-kilometer (500-mile) frontier and usually result in brief confrontations, only rarely involving the use of weapons. The last major combat over the issue was in 2011, leaving 20 dead.

However, relations sharply deteriorated since a May confrontation killed a Cambodian soldier. Thursday’s clashes were unusually big in intensity.

The first clash on Thursday morning happened near the Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey, prompting villagers to scurry to shelter in concrete bunkers.

The Thai army and Cambodia’s Defense Ministry each said the other side deployed drones before advancing on the other's positions and opening fire. The two sides later used heavier weaponry such as artillery, causing greater damage and casualties, and Thailand said it responded with airstrikes to truck-mounted rockets launched by Cambodia.

Thailand’s air force said it deployed F-16 fighter jets in two attacks on Cambodia. Nikorndej, the Thai spokesperson, called it “an act of self-defense” in response to Cambodian rockets.

Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said the Thai jets dropped bombs on a road near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, which has been a site of past conflicts between the two countries.

Cambodian authorities distributed photos they claimed showed damage caused there, and the country’s Culture Ministry said it would pursue justice under international law, since the temple was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO, the U.N.’s cultural organization, and is a “historical legacy of the Cambodian people.”

Relations frayed badly even before the clashes began. On Wednesday, Thailand withdrew its ambassador to Cambodia and expelled the Cambodian ambassador to protest the mine blast that wounded its soldiers.

Thai authorities alleged the mines were newly laid along paths that both sides had agreed were supposed to be safe. They said the mines were Russian-made and not of a type employed by Thailand’s military.

Cambodia rejected Thailand’s account as “baseless accusations,” pointing out that many unexploded mines and other ordnance are a legacy of 20th century wars and unrest.

Cambodia also downgraded diplomatic relations, recalling all Cambodian staff on Thursday from its embassy in Bangkok.

The border dispute has also roiled Thailand's domestic politics. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra came under fire earlier this month over a phone call with Cambodia's former Prime Minister Hun Sen, still a power broker in his country, when she tried to defuse the situation. She then was suspended from office on July 1 pending an investigation into possible ethics violations over the matter.

Associated Press writers Sopheng Cheang in Samroing, Cambodia, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Thai people looks at the damage of Phanom Dong Rak hospital after Cambodia fired artillery shells at Surin Province, Thailand, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunny Chittawil)

Thai people who fled clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers take shelter in Surin province, northeastern Thailand, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunny Chittawil)

Thai people who fled clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers take shelter in Surin province, northeastern Thailand, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunny Chittawil)

This photo released by the Royal Thai Army, shows an injured Thai soldier who stepped on a land mine being airlifted to a hospital in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (The Royal Thai Army via AP)

A local motorcar drives past the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Local vehicles pass the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

In this Sunday, July, 2025, photo released by the Royal Thai Army, Thai soldiers inspect a border area in Ubon Ratchathani†province where the Royal Thai Army said two anti-personnel landmines were found. (Royal Thai Army via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

NASA astronaut Zena Cardman is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule being taken into the recovery vessel after crew members re entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Mike Fincke getting helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows Russian astronaut Oleg Platonov being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, left, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON shortly after having landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Zena Cardman being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)