After escalating tensions on the border, Thailand bombs Cambodia.

A Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia on Thursday, after weeks of escalating tensions over a border dispute that escalated into clashes that left at least two civilians dead.

Clashes erupted early this morning near the disputed Ta Muan Thom temple along the eastern border between Cambodia and Thailand, about 360 kilometers from the Thai capital, Bangkok.

Exchange of accusations between Thailand and Cambodia

The Thai military said one of six F-16s, which Thailand had prepared for deployment along the disputed border, fired on Cambodia and destroyed a military target.

"We used air power against military targets as planned," Thai military deputy spokesman Richa Sukswanon told reporters. Thailand also closed its border with Cambodia.

The Thai Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that Cambodian forces fired "heavy artillery" at a Thai military base this morning, also targeting civilian areas, including a hospital, resulting in civilian casualties.

"The Royal Thai Government is prepared to intensify self-defense measures if Cambodia continues its armed attacks and violations of Thailand's sovereignty," the ministry added in a statement.

The Cambodian Ministry of Defense, for its part, stated that aircraft dropped two bombs on a road, and strongly condemned "the reckless and brutal military aggression by the Kingdom of Thailand against Cambodia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The conflict between the two neighbors escalated

The clashes erupted after Thailand recalled its ambassador to Cambodia late Wednesday and announced it would expel Cambodia's envoy in Bangkok.

Prior to that, another Thai soldier lost a limb within a week as a result of a landmine explosion that Bangkok claimed was recently planted in the disputed area.

For more than 100 years, Thailand and Cambodia have disputed sovereignty over undemarcated points along their 817-kilometer land border, resulting in skirmishes over several years and at least 12 deaths.

Tensions between the two neighboring countries renewed in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed during a brief exchange of fire, which escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis and has now turned into armed clashes.

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