Thai military continues to strike multiple targets in Cambodia: defense spokesperson

The Thai military forces had continued to use artillery and tank-mounted machine guns to fire at multiple targets in the Cambodian territory as of Tuesday morning, a Cambodian defense spokesperson said Tuesday at a press conference.

The civilian death toll in Cambodia has climbed to 21, as border conflict with Thailand entered its 17th day, Defense Ministry's Undersecretary of State and spokesperson Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said.

The Thai military forces had continued to employ fighter jets, tanks, artillery and drones to launch attacks on multiple areas in the Cambodian provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey, resulting in damage to multiple civilian facilities, she said.

Nong Sakal, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia, urged both Cambodia and Thailand to uphold the joint peace declaration signed in October.

"We hope that both Cambodia and Thailand will abide by the previously signed joint peace declaration. Furthermore, we call on the Thai side to unconditionally release the 18 Cambodian soldiers who have been detained," he said.

The Cambodia-Thailand border conflict has reignited since Dec. 7, and both sides accused the other of initiating the attack.

According to the latest figures released by the Cambodian Ministry of Interior, the conflict has so far forced about 545,000 Cambodians to flee their homes for safe shelters.

Thai military continues to strike multiple targets in Cambodia: defense spokesperson

Thai military continues to strike multiple targets in Cambodia: defense spokesperson

Thai military continues to strike multiple targets in Cambodia: defense spokesperson

Thai military continues to strike multiple targets in Cambodia: defense spokesperson

Thai military continues to strike multiple targets in Cambodia: defense spokesperson

International gold prices surged to fresh record highs on Wednesday driven by escalating geopolitical tensions, tight market supply and demand, and rising safe-haven demand.

Since the beginning of this year, global gold prices have climbed more than 70 percent.

On Wednesday, the most actively traded gold futures contract for February 2026 on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 46.3 U.S. dollars to settle at 4,505.7 dollars per ounce.

Meanwhile, spot gold prices in London also passed the 4,500-U.S.-dollar-per-ounce mark.

Analysts said heightened geopolitical pressure stemming from tensions between the United States and Venezuela, coupled with a sustained decline in the U.S. dollar index, has provided some support to prices of dollar-denominated precious metals futures.

Data show that the U.S. dollar index has fallen nearly 10 percent so far this year and may be headed for its worst annual performance since 2003.

Gold prices hit record highs amid geopolitical tensions