AKP Phnom Penh, December 09, 2025 --

The Ministry of Interior of Cambodia has issued a press statement regarding the impacts on civilian areas, civilian casualties, and the hardships faced by displaced citizens resulting from Thailand’s acts of aggression against Cambodia’s sovereign territory.

As of the morning of Dec. 9, the renewed Thai aggression against Cambodian sovereign territory beginning again on Dec. 7 has caused severe impacts across many civilian areas. These attacks have resulted in the deaths and injuries of Cambodian civilians, forced mass displacement, destroyed infrastructure, damaged temples, cultural property, and human heritage, and disrupted essential public services.

According to the statement AKP received this afternoon, the key impacts are as follows:

1. Deaths and Injuries: Seven civilians have been killed – one in Preah Vihear province, three in Oddar Meanchey, and three in Banteay Meanchey. Approximately twenty others have been seriously and lightly injured, most of whom are receiving emergency treatment by provincial medical teams, with several transferred to Phnom Penh for further care.

2. Displacement of Civilians: 1,491 families (5,597 people) have fled from six communes of Choam Ksan district, Preah Vihear province to eight designated safe zones, 3,478 families (11,060 people) have evacuated to six safe locations in Oddar Meanchey province, and 4,562 people have relocated to safe zones or taken shelter with relatives in Banteay Meanchey province.

3. Destruction of Civilian Infrastructure and Disruption of Public Services: Thai military operations using artillery and airstrikes, including F-16 aircraft, have caused heavy damage to civilian homes, private company buildings, schools, and public roads. In Oddar Meanchey, 238 out of 260 schools have been closed, while nearly all schools in border districts of Preah Vihear and Banteay Meanchey have also shut down temporarily after thousands of children evacuated with their families.

4. Emergency Evacuation of Prisoners: On the night of Dec. 8, 2025, the General Department of Prisons, in cooperation with the General Commissariat of National Police and the provincial authorities of Oddar Meanchey and Siem Reap, carried out the emergency relocation of 1,066 inmates (including 67 women) from Oddar Meanchey Provincial Prison due to the high risk from Thai air-dropped munitions to continue detention safely in Siem Reap Provincial Prison.

In addition to these major impacts, further tragedies and damages continue to unfold, as the Thai military has launched various types of long-range munitions into Cambodian civilian settlements located up to 30 kilometres from the border. This does not yet account for the harmful toxic smoke that Thai forces have again deployed irresponsibly within Cambodian territory.

“The Ministry of Interior reiterates its firm support and confidence in Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, President of the Senate and Supreme Commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, the courageous Prime Minister of Cambodia. The Ministry calls upon all Cambodian citizens, at every level and political tendency, and all mixed armed forces to remain united, stand shoulder-to-shoulder, and support the Royal Government while encouraging frontline heroes who are bravely defending the ancestral territory and ensuring the safety of civilians along the border,” read the statement.

The Ministry of Interior once again urged ASEAN, the United Nations, and the international community to monitor, condemn, and take legal and principled action against the brutal and reckless crimes committed by the Thai government and military, which constitute grave violations of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention Against Torture, and the ASEAN Charter.

“Cambodia demands that Thailand immediately cease these hostile acts and fully comply with the ceasefire terms, especially the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Declaration on Peace Deal, signed by both Prime Ministers with the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Malaysia as witnesses, and supported by international partners,” the statement concluded.

By C. Nika