Savey Phin

Cambodia has condemned the Thai army for demolishing a Hindu Vishnu statue in a disputed border area after more than two weeks of fighting between Cambodia and Thailand. According to Cambodian officials in Preah Vihear, the statue was built in 2014 and stood several hundred meters inside Cambodian territory in the An Ses area. It was destroyed on December 22 using a backhoe loader. Video of the demolition circulated widely on Thai social media and was independently verified, with no signs of manipulation. Cambodia says the statue was a religious site worshipped by Buddhist and Hindu followers and has accused Thai forces of damaging multiple cultural sites along the border during the clashes. Thailand has not commented on the incident and continues to say its operations only target military objectives. By that logic, this Hindu statue was definitely a military target.