Cambodia’s Rocket Saturation Attacks on Thailand Are an Abomination |
The much-ballyhooed US-backed ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand has collapsed. Thailand blames Cambodia. Cambodia naturally blames Thailand. Regardless of who is at fault, the situation is escalating, and it is unlikely that another ceasefire will end this conflict anytime soon—both because Thailand has said all previous ceasefires are now voided and because Thailand and Cambodia no longer believe they can trust each other. So armed clashes—if not a full-scale invasion of one country by the other—will be the norm for the time being.
An ABC News article reported that Cambodia “deployed truck-mounted BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 19-25 miles.” The report noted that each launcher could fire up to 40 rockets at a time, but the rockets were “dumb-fire” projectiles without the ability to strike precisely—making it necessary to fire dozens at once. “They have landed largely in areas from where most have been evacuated,” ABC News observed.
Still, more than two dozen people on both sides of the Thai-Cambodia border are reported as having been killed in the renewed round of fighting. More than half a million people have been displaced.
Sisaket Province’s Kantharalak District was reportedly hit by rockets fired from Cambodia’s truck-mounted BM-21 rocket launchers. A Thai civilian named Don Patchapan was........