BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Filipinos living in Cambodia remain safe following an attack by Thai forces on 2 Cambodian border provinces early Monday, the Philippines’ envoy to Cambodia said Tuesday.

Ambassador Flerida Ann Camille Mayo said there are currently 10,000 Filipinos living in Cambodia including 200 in the border area.

“Kami ay may contact sa kanila. ‘Yung iba undocumented kaya mahirap bilangin. Ang mga naapektuhan ay mga villagers na nakatira roon sa mga conflict area. Wala naman doon ang mga kababayan natin,” she said in a DZMM interview.

The ambassador said the embassy has a contingency plan in case fighting worsens and urged Filipinos to stay away from military facilities in the border provinces of Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey.

“Sa ngayon, nakahanda lang kami. Naglabas kami ulit ng advisory kahapon na pinapaalala namin sa ating mga kababayan na dapat sinusubaybayan nila ang mga pangyayari, ang mga pahayag ng pamahalaan at sundin ang mga payo ng pamahalaan para sa kanilang kaligtasan,” she said.

Thailand launched air strikes Monday on its neighbor Cambodia, with both sides trading blame for renewed fighting on their disputed border that has killed four Cambodian civilians and a Thai soldier.

Around 35,000 people in Thailand have been evacuated from border areas, the country’s Second Army Region said.

Five days of combat this summer between the two Southeast Asian nations killed 43 people and displaced around 300,000 on both sides of the border before a truce took effect.

Cambodia’s information minister Neth Pheaktra told AFP that at least four Cambodian civilians were killed by Thai shelling Monday in the border provinces of Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey.

Around 10 other civilians were wounded, including a Cambodian journalist who was hit by shrapnel from a Thai rocket, Neth Pheaktra said.

The Thai army said one soldier was killed and 18 others were wounded since fresh fighting began Sunday.

The European Union called on the two countries Monday to “exercise maximum restraint” and dial down hostilities, remarks echoed by the United Nations.  Agence France-Presse