Godlike Productions - News: Shots exchanged on Thai-Cambodian border

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Sunday, November 23, 2008

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Shots exchanged on Thai-Cambodian border

The Guardian

2008-10-15

Fighting erupted between along the Thailand-Cambodia border today after simmering tensions flared into a clash between troops dug in just a few metres apart.

Small arms and rocket fire could be heard in the vicinity of an 11th century Hindu temple that has become the focus of a border dispute between the fractious neighbours.

A photographer from the Reuters news agency said he had to dive for cover when the firefight began just after lunchtime with soldiers on both sides on high alert.

"I heard gunfire all over the place in this area," said Chor Sokunthea, who is on the Cambodian side of the frontier. "One rocket flew from Thailand over my and landed."

Both sides blamed the other for firing the first shots, though it remained unclear how many soldiers were involved in the fighting.

Fears of all-out war have been rising for days as both countries ratcheted up the threatening rhetoric over the disputed land around the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

Thailand sent troop reinforcements to the area yesterday after the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, issued an ultimatum demanding that opposing forces be withdrawn.

The Cambodian leader had vowed to turn the area into a "death zone" if Thailand failed to pull back its soldiers by noon, a threat Bangkok chose to ignore.

Instead, it beefed up its forces and put jet fighters on standby along with C-130 transport aircraft ready to evacuate Thais living in the border area if the tensions escalated further.

Thailand is taking the threat seriously and urged its nationals to "think twice" before visiting Cambodia. Five years ago a mob burned down Bangkok's embassy in Phnom Penh after a newspaper mistakenly reported that a Thai actress saying the ancient Cabmodian temple of Angkor Wat belonged to Thailand.

The row over the Preah Vihear temple reached boiling point in July when several thousand troops faced one another down shortly after Cambodia had applied for UN World Heritage Site status for the ornately carved sandstone ruin.

The move was initially backed by Thailand's foreign minister, Noppadol Pattama, who was forced to resign after being accused by political opponents of overstepping his authority.

The core of the dispute focuses on 1.8 square miles of forest scrub adjacent to the temple that the International Court of Justice in the Hague awarded to Cambodia, a ruling that has rankled with Thailand ever since.

A brief skirmish between patrolling troops broke out 12 days ago, leaving two Thai soldiers wounded. Three days later two other troopers lost their legs when they stepped on landmines. Both sides blamed the other for the incursion across the fluid frontier.

Late last night Thai and Cambodian troops were just 100 metres apart as Bangkok beefed up its numbers on the front line.

"We have sent more troops to be stationed near the area, but only enough to resist [an attack]," said Gen Viboonsak Neepan, the Thai army commander for the region.

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