The Thai army’s Burapha Task Force launched attacks on Cambodian troops accused of violating Thai sovereignty in Sa Kaeo province on Monday.

The 1st Army said a military operation was launched “to reclaim Thai  sovereign territory along the border in Sa Kaeo province”.

No specifics of the operation were released, including the actual location. The army promised a later update.

The task force supervises the Thai-Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo province.

The announcement came only hours after the task force was placed on full alert as Cambodia continued to reinforce troops and weapons deployed on the border with eastern Thailand.

The task force said it had been ordered by 1st Army Region commander Lt Gen Worayos Lueangsuwan to prepare for full combat deployment, as Cambodia continued to build up its forces in the area around the clock.

The attacks that began on Sunday had previously been limited to the provinces of Ubon Ratchathani, Si Sa Ket, Surin and Buri Ram, which adjoins Sa Kaeo.

The situation in Sa Kaeo deteriorated after Thai security forces began a crackdown on Cambodian encroachers in Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaew in Khok Sung district after the first round of the border clashes ended on July 28 with a ceasefire brokered by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and US President Donald Trump signed by the two countries.

The Sa Kaeo Public Health Office on Monday announced the temporary  closure of all public services at border district hospitals in the province – Ta Phraya, Khok Sung, Aranyaprather and Khlong Hat – until further notice. The hospitals will accept only emergency cases, it said.

Provincial authorities have ordered people in the four districts to evacuate to emergency shelters for their own safety until the tense siruation is resolved.