Thailand-Cambodia border dispute flares again, leaving six soldiers dead
Thailand and Cambodia blame each other for the first major skirmish in Surin since February's ceasefire
Villagers evacuated from near the frontline in Surin province where Thailand and Cambodia exchanged gunfire on Friday. Photograph: AP
Six soldiers have died in the first major flare-up since a shaky ceasefire in the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute was signed in February.
As soldiers fought with rocket-propelled grenades and guns, both countries evacuated thousands of villagers and accused each other of firing first in the jungle around Ta Moan and Ta Krabei temples in the north-eastern Thai province of Surin, about 93 miles south-west of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which saw a deadly standoff in February.
Three Thai paramilitary rangers were killed and 13 wounded, while three Cambodian soldiers died and six were wounded.
"Cambodia started attacking our temporary base with artillery fire and we responded to defend ourselves," said Lieutenant-General Thawatchai Samutsakorn, of the Thai army.
Thai army spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong said fighting began after Cambodian troops altered a bunker in the area and moved closer in violation of a ceasefire pact. "When warned, Cambodian troops stepped closer and started firing," she said.
Cambodia's defence ministry spokesman, Lieutenant-General Chhum Socheat, said Thai artillery shells had hit four Cambodian villages and Cambodian troops responded with rocket-propelled grenades.
Soon after the clashes subsided, Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong sent a letter to the UN security council in New York, accusing Thailand of launching a "blatant, large-scale attack".
A witness in one Thai village said occasional gunshots and shelling could still be heard hours after the clash.
Thailand's government evacuated about 7,500 villagers, while Cambodian authorities moved several thousand people out of the area.
The fighting is the most severe since three Thais and eight Cambodians were killed and dozens of people wounded between 4 and 7 February in the bloodiest fighting in nearly two decades.
As part of a ceasefire deal, Thailand and Cambodia agreed on 22 February to allow unarmed military observers from Indonesia to be posted along the border. But that arrangement – brokered by the Association for South East Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers in Jakarta – has yet to be put in place. Thailand said international observers were not required, insisting the two countries should resolve the issue bilaterally.
Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya said on Friday: "There's a mechanism in place, so there's no need to run crying to Asean or the international community."
In his letter to the UN, his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, said Thailand's refusal to allow third party mediation was a "pretext for using its larger and materially more sophisticated armed forces against Cambodia".
Indonesia, the current chair of Asean, of which Thailand and Cambodia are members, 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.
Chhay Mao, a major in the Cambodian army stationed at the Preah Vihear temple, said the fighting had not spread to the ancient clifftop Hindu temple, which was awarded by an international court to Cambodia 49 years ago. Both countries lay claim to a 4.6 sq km (1.8 sq mile) patch of land around it.
The temple has been a source of tension for generations and the two countries have been locked in a standoff since July 2008, when Preah Vihear was granted Unesco world heritage status.
Some analysts say hawkish Thai generals and their ultra-nationalist allies, who wear the Thai king's colour 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 and unease after a rumour of an imminent military coup swirled in Thailand overnight. The army has dismissed the rumours as baseless.
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