(Phnom Penh): Beginning on 24 July 2025, during its armed aggression against Cambodian territory, the Thai military deployed military force and heavy weaponry, including F-16 fighter jets, to attack Cambodia and drop bombs on various locations inside Cambodian territory. These attacks posed grave threats to civilian lives, infrastructure, and civilian property.

In his social media post on Friday (Jul. 24), Information Minister Neth Pheaktra said one MK-84 bomb, dropped by the Royal Thai Air Force on a civilian home in Oddar Meanchey Province but which failed to detonate, stands as clear evidence of the use of a highly destructive weapon in an area inhabited by civilians.

“This bomb is not merely a remnant of an attack. It is a silent witness to aggression, evidence of the violation of Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a stark demonstration of disregard for the safety, lives, and property of innocent civilians,” he wrote.

Minister Neth Pheaktra also strongly condemned the use of fighter aircraft and heavy bombs in civilian areas, saying such conduct is contrary to the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, which require parties to a conflict to distinguish clearly between military objectives and civilians, take all feasible precautions, and avoid attacks that may cause excessive harm to the civilian population.

“The unexploded MK-84 bomb has become a piece of historical evidence that cannot be erased or distorted. It remined the world that Cambodia was the victim of armed aggression by the Thai military, not the instigator of war. Cambodian civilians were exposed to weapons of immense destructive power as Thai forces launched attacks, fired various types of munitions, and deployed aircraft to drop bombs indiscriminately,” he added.

The minister said 24 July 2025 is not an ordinary date. It is a day that must be remembered—to honour the sacrifices of Cambodia’s heroic soldiers, heroic border police officers, national defence forces, and civilian population, and to preserve the truth of history against distortion.

Lastly, the minister also reaffirmed Cambodia’s position that military force, fighter jets, bombs, barbed-wire barriers, or attempts to create facts on the ground cannot alter legally established boundaries, cannot create sovereign rights over the territory of another State, and cannot erase the reality of aggression.
=FRESH NEWS