Thailand returns 2 wounded soldiers to Cambodia but continues to hold 18 of their comrades

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Friday welcomed the return of two wounded soldiers who had been captured by the Thai army after the two sides had already implemented a ceasefire to end five days of combat over competing territorial claims.

Their repatriation comes amid accusations and bickering over whether either side had targeted civilians and breached the laws of war, and sharp nationalist feuding on social media.

The rest of a 20-member group of Cambodian soldiers captured on Tuesday in one of the disputed pockets of land over which the two sides were fighting remain in Thai hands, and Cambodian officials are demanding their release.

The two countries have given differing accounts of the circumstances of the capture. Cambodian officials say their soldiers approached the Thai position with friendly intentions to offer post-fighting greetings, while Thai officials said the Cambodians appeared to have hostile intent and entered what Thailand considers its territory, so were taken prisoner.

Cambodian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Maly Socheata confirmed that the two wounded soldiers had been handed over at a border checkpoint between Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province, and urged the Thai side to promptly repatriate the remaining personnel in accordance with “international humanitarian law.”

Thailand says it has been following international legal procedures and was holding the remaining 18 soldiers until it could investigate their actions.

A statement issued Friday by Thailand’s 2nd Army Region identified the two repatriated Cambodian soldiers as a sergeant with a broken arm and a gash on his hip, and a second lieutenant who appeared to be suffering from battle fatigue and needed care from his family. It said both men had taken an oath not to engage in further hostilities against Thailand.

Neither man nor the others in Thai custody have been made available for interviews by neutral third parties.

The Cambodian Human Rights Committee, which is a government agency, released a letter addressed to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights claiming that the two soldiers had been tortured and denied medical care.

The letter, which offered no evidence to back up its claims, demanded among other measures an “impartial investigation by the United Nations or relevant international bodies” into its allegations.

There were other peaceful activities on Friday on both sides of the border as both countries staged tours of the former battle areas for foreign diplomats and other observers, highlighting damage allegedly caused by the other side. The two countries continue to accuse each other of having violated the laws of war with attacks on civilians and the illegal use of weapons.

More than three dozen people, civilian and soldiers, were killed in the fighting, which in addition to infantry battles included artillery duels and the firing of truck-mounted rockets by Cambodia, to which Thailand responded with airstrikes. More than 260,000 people in total were displaced from their homes.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, military representatives of both sides are supposed to meet next week to iron out details to avoid further clashes. However, the talks are not supposed to cover the competing territorial claims that are at the heart of decades-long tension between the two countries.

Partisans of both sides are also waging a war of words online, with Thailand accusing Cambodia of also carrying out malicious hacking. Both countries' professional journalism societies have accused each other of spreading false information and other propaganda.

Associated Press writer Jintamas reported from Bangkok.

In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a hospital that was damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a convenience store at a gas station damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, second from right, leads diplomats during a border visit to inspect dameges from the recent clash in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), photographers take photos of an unexploded MK-84 bomb which Cambodian says Thai army used an F-16 aircraft to drop, in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a hospital that was damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a convenience store at a gas station damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, second from right, leads diplomats during a border visit to inspect dameges from the recent clash in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian health rescue and soldiers head to O Smach, Cambodian-Thai border gate to receive two Cambodian soldiers from Thailand, in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), a Cambodian soldier, second from left, enters an ambulance at O Smach, Cambodian-Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), a Cambodian soldier, center, sits on a wheelchair as his arrive at O Smach, Cambodian-Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), a Cambodian soldier, center, is escorted by Thai soldiers as he arrives at O Smach, Cambodian-Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), photographers take photos of an unexploded MK-84 bomb which Cambodian says Thai army used an F-16 aircraft to drop, in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a hospital that was damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a convenience store at a gas station damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, second from right, leads diplomats during a border visit to inspect dameges from the recent clash in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

Electronic billboards in New York on Aug. 1, 2025 show the Thai flags on online advertisement, offering moral support in Thailand's struggle against Cambodia over competing claims over land on their border. (AP Photo)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian health rescue and soldiers head to O Smach, Cambodian-Thai border gate to receive two Cambodian soldiers from Thailand, in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), a Cambodian soldier, second from left, enters an ambulance at O Smach, Cambodian-Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), a Cambodian soldier, center, sits on a wheelchair as his arrive at O Smach, Cambodian-Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), a Cambodian soldier, center, is escorted by Thai soldiers as he arrives at O Smach, Cambodian-Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), photographers take photos of an unexploded MK-84 bomb which Cambodian says Thai army used an F-16 aircraft to drop, in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a hospital that was damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

In this photo released by the Government Spokesman Office, Military attaches from various countries visit a convenience store at a gas station damaged after Cambodia fired artillery shells in Sisaket province, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (The Government Spokesman Office via AP)

In this photo released by Agence Kampuchea Press (AKP), Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, second from right, leads diplomats during a border visit to inspect dameges from the recent clash in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AKP via AP)

MADRID (AP) — Venezuelans living in Spain are watching the events unfold back home with a mix of awe, joy and fear.

Some 600,000 Venezuelans live in Spain, home to the largest population anywhere outside the Americas. Many fled political persecution and violence but also the country’s collapsing economy.

A majority live in the capital, Madrid, working in hospitals, restaurants, cafes, nursing homes and elsewhere. While some Venezuelan migrants have established deep roots and lives in the Iberian nation, others have just arrived.

Here is what three of them had to say about the future of Venezuela since U.S. forces deposed Nicolás Maduro.

David Vallenilla woke up to text messages from a cousin on Jan. 3 informing him “that they invaded Venezuela.” The 65-year-old from Caracas lives alone in a tidy apartment in the south of Madrid with two Daschunds and a handful of birds. He was in disbelief.

“In that moment, I wanted certainty,” Vallenilla said, “certainty about what they were telling me.”

In June 2017, Vallenilla’s son, a 22-year-old nursing student in Caracas named David José, was shot point-blank by a Venezuelan soldier after taking part in a protest near a military air base in the capital. He later died from his injuries. Video footage of the incident was widely publicized, turning his son’s death into an emblematic case of the Maduro government’s repression against protesters that year.

After demanding answers for his son’s death, Vallenilla, too, started receiving threats and decided two years later to move to Spain with the help of a nongovernmental organization.

On the day of Maduro’s capture, Vallenilla said his phone was flooded with messages about his son.

“Many told me, ‘Now David will be resting in peace. David must be happy in heaven,’” he said. “But don't think it was easy: I spent the whole day crying.”

Vallenilla is watching the events in Venezuela unfold with skepticism but also hope. He fears more violence, but says he has hope the Trump administration can effect the change that Venezuelans like his son tried to obtain through elections, popular protests and international institutions.

“Nothing will bring back my son. But the fact that some justice has begun to be served for those responsible helps me see a light at the end of the tunnel. Besides, I also hope for a free Venezuela.”

Journalist Carleth Morales first came to Madrid a quarter-century ago when Hugo Chávez was reelected as Venezuela's president in 2000 under a new constitution.

The 54-year-old wanted to study and return home, taking a break of sorts in Madrid as she sensed a political and economic environment that was growing more and more challenging.

“I left with the intention of getting more qualified, of studying, and of returning because I understood that the country was going through a process of adaptation between what we had known before and, well, Chávez and his new policies," Morales said. "But I had no idea that we were going to reach the point we did.”

In 2015, Morales founded an organization of Venezuelan journalists in Spain, which today has hundreds of members.

The morning U.S. forces captured Maduro, Morales said she woke up to a barrage of missed calls from friends and family in Venezuela.

“Of course, we hope to recover a democratic country, a free country, a country where human rights are respected,” Morales said. “But it’s difficult to think that as a Venezuelan when we’ve lived through so many things and suffered so much.”

Morales sees it as unlikely that she would return home, having spent more than two decades in Spain, but she said she hopes her daughters can one day view Venezuela as a viable option.

“I once heard a colleague say, ‘I work for Venezuela so that my children will see it as a life opportunity.’ And I adopted that phrase as my own. So perhaps in a few years it won’t be me who enjoys a democratic Venezuela, but my daughters.”

For two weeks, Verónica Noya has waited for her phone to ring with the news that her husband and brother have been freed.

Noya’s husband, Venezuelan army Capt. Antonio Sequea, was imprisoned in 2020 after having taken part in a military incursion to oust Maduro. She said he remains in solitary confinement in the El Rodeo prison in Caracas. For 20 months, Noya has been unable to communicate with him or her brother, who was also arrested for taking part in the same plot.

“That’s when my nightmare began,” Noya said.

Venezuelan authorities have said hundreds of political prisoners have been released since Maduro's capture, while rights groups have said the real number is a fraction of that. Noya has waited in agony to hear anything about her four relatives, including her husband's mother, who remain imprisoned.

Meanwhile, she has struggled with what to tell her children when they ask about their father's whereabouts. They left Venezuela scrambling and decided to come to Spain because family roots in the country meant that Noya already had a Spanish passport.

Still, she hopes to return to her country.

“I’m Venezuelan above all else,” Noya said. “And I dream of seeing a newly democratic country."

Venezuelan journalist Caleth Morales works in her apartment's kitchen in Madrid, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

David Vallenilla, father of the late David José Vallenilla Luis, sits in his apartment's kitchen in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Veronica Noya holds a picture of her husband Antonio Sequea in Madrid, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

David Vallenilla holds a picture of deposed President Nicolas Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed, during an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Pictures of the late David José Vallenilla Luis are placed in the living room of his father, David José Vallenilla, in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)