Thai, Cambodian troops clash again on disputed border
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PHNOM PENH |
(Reuters) - Thai and Cambodian troops fought again Saturday on their disputed border, a day after four Thai and three Cambodian soldiers were killed in the worst bloodshed since the United Nations called for a ceasefire in February.
Thousands of villagers have been evacuated from the thick jungle around the Ta Moan and Ta Krabei temples, about 150 km (93 miles) west of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which saw a deadly stand-off in February.
Two Cambodian reporters in Banteay Ampil, a town about 15 km (nine miles) from the fighting, told Reuters another Cambodian soldier had been killed and two were wounded on Saturday according to army radio.
The latest clash began before dawn and lasted several hours. Witnesses said heavy shelling had stopped but small-arms fire could still heard.
Cambodian Defense Ministry spokesman Chhum Sucheat described the clashes as more intense than Friday's fighting and accused Thailand of operating "spy planes" in the area.
Both sides blame each other for starting the fighting, the most severe since three Thais and eight Cambodians were killed and dozens of people wounded over February 4-7 in the bloodiest border clashes in nearly two decades.
As part of a ceasefire deal, Thailand and Cambodia agreed on February 22 to allow unarmed military observers from Indonesia to be posted along their border.
But that arrangement -- brokered at a meeting of the Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta at the urging of the United Nations -- has yet to be put in place. Thailand said international observers were not required, insisting the two countries should resolve the issue bilaterally.
"There's a mechanism in place, so there's no need to run crying to ASEAN or the international community," Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters late Friday in Bangkok.
He was responding a letter from Cambodia addressed to ASEAN, stating that Thailand had staged "a large-scale attack."
ASEAN CHAIR URGES RESTRAINT
Thailand and Cambodia have been locked in a standoff since July 2008, when Preah Vihear was granted UNESCO World Heritage status, which Thailand opposed on the grounds that the land around the temple had never been demarcated.
An international court awarded the temple to Cambodia 49 years ago but both countries lay claim to a 4.6 sq km (1.8 sq mile) patch of land around it.
The temple, known as Preah Vihear in Cambodia and Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, sits on land that forms a natural border and has been a source of tension for generations.
Singapore's Foreign Ministry said it was "deeply concerned" and called for restraint and dialogue. Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN, urged both sides to stop fighting.
Indonesia "strongly calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand; for the two sides to continue to resolve their differences through peaceful means," it said in a statement.
The reasons behind this year's deadly skirmishes are murky, and both sides typically blame each other, but the border dispute has become a bone of contention in Thailand's fractious domestic politics.
Some analysts say some hawkish Thai generals and their ultra-nationalist allies, who wear the Thai king's color of yellow at protests, may be trying to create a pretext to stage a coup and cancel elections expected in June or July.
Others say it may be a breakdown in communication at a time of strained relations between the neighbors and unease after a rumor of an imminent military coup swirled in Thailand overnight. The army has dismissed the rumors as baseless.
Thailand and Cambodia are both members of the ASEAN regional grouping which plans to form a European-style single market by 2015.
(Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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