Cambodian justice minister Koeut Rith speaks during a press conference at Minitry of Justice in Phnom Penh on April 3, 2026. Fraudsters running cyberscam operations in Cambodia could face life in prison after the Senate approved a new law on April 3, targeting criminals involved in the multibillion-dollar illicit industry.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Thai military fires artillery towards Cambodia, on December 26, 2025, seen from Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province.
| Photo Credit: AP

Thai military forces fire a flare during their fighting against Cambodia, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Surin province, Thailand.
| Photo Credit: AP

Heavy combat between Thailand and Cambodia entered a second week on Monday (December 15, 2025), with Phnom Penh claiming that Thai bombing is hitting deeper into its territory, coming close to shelters for people who had already fled dangerous areas along the border.

According to Cambodia’s Defence and Information Ministries, shortly after 10 a.m. local time on Monday (December 15, 2025), Thai F-16 fighter jets dropped two bombs near camps for displaced people in the Chong Kal district in the Oddar Meanchey province and the Srei Snam district in the Siem Reap province.

The bombing in Srei Snam, located more than 70 km (43 miles) inside Cambodian territory, targeted a bridge, said the Cambodian authorities.

Siem Reap is home to Cambodia’s world-famous Angkor Wat temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the country’s biggest tourist attraction.

There was no immediate comment from Thai officials.

Access to the combat zone and nearby areas is limited, so few claims by either side can be independently verified.

The two sides are battling over longstanding competing claims to patches of frontier land, some of which contain centuries-old temple ruins.

More than two dozen people on both sides of the border have officially been reported killed in the past week’s fighting, while more than half a million have been displaced, according to officials.

At a news conference on Monday (December 15, 2025) morning, Thai officials issued an estimate of what damage has been inflicted on Cambodia’s military since a skirmish on December 7 that wounded two Thai soldiers ignited large-scale fighting the day after.

They said Cambodian losses included 12 tanks, 10 armoured vehicles, four anti-aircraft artillery systems, seven artillery pieces or mortars, five anti-drone systems, 175 drones, five communication hubs, and one BM-21 mobile rocket launcher.

Thailand says Cambodia has fired thousands of rockets from the truck-mounted BM-21 launchers, which have a range of 30 km to 40 km and can fire up to 40 projectiles at a time.

Thailand’s government announced on Sunday (December 14, 2025) that a rocket attack from Cambodia had killed a 63-year-old villager, its first civilian death reported as a direct result of combat.

Col. Ritcha Suksuwanon, a Thai army deputy spokesperson, said on Sunday (December 14, 2025) an intact Chinese GAM-102LR guided anti-tank missile system was seized. Thailand estimates among Cambodia’s losses some 82 military positions and 505 Cambodian military personnel reportedly killed.

Cambodia has dismissed as disinformation previous Thai estimates of its military death toll but has not released its own figures. Thailand acknowledges the deaths of 16 of its troops.

Phnom Penh said Monday (December 15, 2025) that 15 civilians have been killed and 73 wounded.

Thai officials also said they were trying to cut off the supply of fuel and weapons to Cambodia, but denied reports that a full-scale naval blockade would be mounted. Capt. Nara Khunkothom, assistant spokesperson for the Thai Navy, said only Thai-registered vessels would be subject to their controls in what they have officially designated a “high-risk area” in the Gulf of Thailand.

Officials also said fuel and weapons would no longer be allowed to go through a major land checkpoint to neighbouring Laos that is close to Cambodian territory, declaring that military supplies and logistical support must be cut off.

In a surprise admission, Thai officials implicitly acknowledged that attacks had damaged centuries-old Ta Kwai temple — known to Cambodians as Ta Krabey — in a disputed area, but blamed Cambodia for allegedly using it as a military stronghold.

Phnombootra Chandrajoti, director-general of Thailand’s Fine Arts Department, said that historical sites should not be used as bases for military operations and that the most important priority is that Thailand must secure and preserve the area.

The new fighting derailed a ceasefire promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump that ended five days of earlier combat in July. It had been brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Mr. Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalised in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Mr. Trump attended.

Mr. Trump announced this past Friday that the two countries had agreed at his urging to renew the ceasefire, but Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied making any commitment and Cambodia announced it was continuing to fight in what it said is self-defence.

Published – December 15, 2025 04:57 pm IST

Thai military personnel walk near the forested disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia in the Chong Bok area. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

In this photo released by the Cambodia National Assembly, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, second left, front row, sits together with other lawmakers during the session on the draft law on amending the law on nationality at the National Assembly in Phnom Penh Cambodia, on August 25, 2025. Photo: Cambodia National Assembly via AP

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An environmental activist, front right, raises his V-sign together with supporters as he leads a protest near Phnom Penh Municipality Court, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Ten members of a nonviolent environmental activist group in Cambodia were convicted on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, receiving prison sentences of six years each.
| Photo Credit: AP

Ten members of a Cambodian environmental activist group that campaigned against destructive infrastructure projects and alleged corruption were each sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison on charges of conspiring against the state.

Three of the members of the group Mother Nature Cambodia were also convicted of insulting Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, for which they were sentenced to an additional two years in prison, giving them a total of eight years behind bars.

Only five of the defendants attended the trial and the others were convicted in absentia. They included four Cambodians whose whereabouts are unknown and Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, a Spanish national who co-founded the group and was deported in 2015 and barred from ever returning to Cambodia.

The five who attended the trial were arrested outside the court after the verdict and sentences were issued. They had marched to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court with supporters, dressed in traditional white clothing worn at funerals, which they said represented the death of justice in Cambodia.

Phun Keoraksmey, a 22-year-old member of the group whose mother was by her side, said she was prepared to go to prison.

“But I never want to go back to jail because I never did anything wrong. But I will never run from what I am responsible for. I chose this way, I chose this path,” she said.

The Cambodian human rights group Licadho called the verdict “very disappointing.” “Today, the court has ruled that youth activists fighting for environmental protections and democratic principles are in effect acting against the state,” it said. “It is astounding that Cambodian authorities are convicting youth activists who are advocating for clean water in Phnom Penh, protecting mangrove forests in Koh Kong and warning against the privatisation of land in protected areas and presenting it as an attack against the state.” The group last year was the co-winner of the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes characterised as the “Alternative Nobel,” issued by a Stockholm-based foundation to organisations and individuals working to “safeguard the dignity and livelihoods of communities around the world.” Three members of the group who were in jail at that time were denied permission by Cambodian court authorities to travel to Sweden to accept the award.

Mother Nature, founded in 2012, was deregistered as a nongovernmental organisation by the Cambodian government in 2017 but its members vowed to carry on its work, with some serving jailtime in recent years.

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch last month accused Cambodian authorities of trying the activists on politically motivated charges “to muzzle criticism of governmental policies.” “For more than a decade, Mother Nature has campaigned against environmentally destructive infrastructure projects, exposed corruption in the management of Cambodia’s natural resources, and mobilised young Cambodians to defend the country’s dwindling biodiversity,” it said in a statement. It noted that Cambodia has one of the world’s highest deforestation rates and levels of wildlife trafficking.

Gonzalez-Davidson and two other defendants were charged with defaming the king in statements made during an online meeting.

Cambodia’s government has long been accused of using the judicial system to persecute critics and political opponents. The government insists the country observes the rule of law under an electoral democracy, but parties seen as challengers to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party have been dissolved by the courts or had their leaders harassed.

Under former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who held power for almost four decades, the government was widely criticised for human rights abuses that included suppression of freedom of speech and association. His son, Hun Manet, succeeded him last year, but there have been few signs of political liberalisation.

Phnom Penh:

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun and Indian Ambassador to the country Devyani Khobragade launched the first-ever direct flight between Phnom Penh and New Delhi on Sunday.

The flight between the two capitals will be operated four times a week by Cambodia’s national flag carrier Cambodia Angkor Air.

Several members of the Indian community also joined the flight inauguration ceremony which not only marks ease of travel for tourists but also strengthens the historic ties between the two countries.

The Embassy of India in Phnom Penh hailed the development as a “historic moment”, citing India’s “Act East” Policy.

A statement released by Angkor Air said that the new connection will make the Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO-listed world heritage site, more accessible to Indian tourists and also provide Cambodian patients better access to medical treatments in India.

“With both nations’ rich histories and mutual interests, Cambodia Angkor Air is optimistic about the potential and positive impact of this new service,” the statement said.

Citing India’s involvement in the restoration of Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear temples in Cambodia depicts the cultural and linguistic connect, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has time and again spotlighted the historical and civilisational links between the two countries.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

This handout photo taken and released Cambodia Senate on April 3, 2024 shows senator Hun Sen (C) casting his ballot to designate the president of Senate during the first meeting of the Senate in Phnom Penh. Former Cambodian leader Hun Sen was promoted to senate president on April 3, taking over a key ceremonial role less than a year after handing power to his son.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Former Cambodian leader Hun Sen was promoted to senate president on Wednesday, taking over a key ceremonial role less than a year after handing power to his son.

Hun Sen stepped down in August after nearly four decades of iron-fisted rule, passing the baton to his eldest son Hun Manet following a landslide win in national polls held without any significant opposition parties.

In February his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won 55 seats — including his own — out of 58 in the senate election, with the opposition Khmer Will Party taking the remainder.

On Wednesday senators unanimously voted to approve Hun Sen as president of the senate after King Norodom Sihamoni convened its first meeting.

The position allows Hun Sen to act as acting head of state when the king is overseas.

Addressing the senators after the vote, Hun Sen thanked them for the “honour”.

“It is my first time to sit on such a high chair,” he said, saying he would use the second-highest ceremonial role — only superseded by the king — to further Cambodia’s international diplomacy.

There are 62 senators, with 58 elected in February by 125 MPs and more than 11,000 local administrators, mostly members of Hun Sen’s party.

King Norodom Sihamoni appoints two senators, while the National Assembly appoints two others.

Analysts said Hun Sen’s new role would allow him to continue to dominate the country.

“The senate isn’t a powerful political or legislative body, but it holds the highest ceremonial role as the highest political symbol of the nation,” Cambodian political analyst Ou Virak told AFP.

He said because of the king’s frequent travels, Hun Sen taking the role of senate president was significant — and hugely symbolic.

“In Cambodia, symbolism is everywhere and everything,” he said.

It is the latest in a series of moves that have seen Hun Sen consolidate power across the government.

The administration now includes a number of Hun Sen’s relatives, including his youngest son Hun Many as a deputy PM, with several children of his allies also holding top jobs.

After coming to power in 1985, Hun Sen helped modernise a country devastated by civil war and genocide.

But critics say his rule has also been marked by environmental destruction, entrenched graft and the elimination of nearly all political rivals.