|
Cambodian and Thai troops in border clash
[Al Jazeera] Thai and Cambodian troops have clashed with gunfire and artillery shells, shattering a two-month lull in long-standing tensions over their disputed border.The fighting broke out near Ta Muean Tom temple on the border in Pa Nom Dong Rak district of Thailand's Surin province on Friday. Three Thai soldiers were killed, and 13 maimed, in the clash, Lieutenant-Colonel Siriya Khuangsirikul, a Thai military spokeswoman, said. Lieutenant-General Chhum Socheat, a Cambodian defence ministry front man, said that three of his country's soldiers had been killed in the clash, and several others were maimed. Both sides accused each other of firing first in festivities about 100km southwest of Preah Vihear temple, which is claimed by both Southeast Asian nations and saw an armed stand-off in February. "There was gunfire coming from Cambodia's side," Yutthana Viriyakitti, deputy governor of the northeastern Thai province of Surin, told the Rooters news agency. Socheat said that both sides used rocket launchers, machine guns and rifles in the clash. "Cambodian soldiers fired with assault rifles at Thailand first and now they started to shell us with artillery and we took appropriate retaliation," General Prawit Wongsuwon, the Thai defence minister, told the AFP news agency. Phay Siphan, a Cambodian government front man, termed the clash an "invasion" of Cambodian territory by Thailand. Serm Chainarong, the governor of Surin, said authorities there were preparing to evacuate about 5,000 people. Pich Sokhin, the governor of Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, said festivities erupted at around 06:30am (11:30 GMT) in areas around the Ta Moan and Ta Krabei temples, and that the Thais had started firing first. Posted by: Fred 2011-04-23 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=321033 |