Thai soldiers fired first in border clash - Cambodia

Thai troops are seen near the Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 15, 2008. Thailand sent more soldiers to a disputed stretch of the Cambodian border near the temple on Tuesday, a Thai general said, hours after a Cambodian general said Thai troops had pulled back. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA) REUTERS/CHOR SOKUNTHEA, REUTERS

Cambodian troops patrol near the Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 15, 2008. Thailand sent more soldiers to a disputed stretch of the Cambodian border near the temple on Tuesday, a Thai general said, hours after a Cambodian general said Thai troops had pulled back. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA) REUTERS/CHOR SOKUNTHEA, REUTERS

A Cambodia soldier guards the Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 15, 2008. Thailand sent more soldiers to a disputed stretch of the Cambodian border near the temple on Tuesday, a Thai general said, hours after a Cambodian general said Thai troops had pulled back. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA) REUTERS/CHOR SOKUNTHEA, REUTERS

A Cambodian soldier guards the Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 15, 2008. Thailand sent more soldiers to a disputed stretch of the Cambodian border near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple on Tuesday, a Thai general said, hours after a Cambodian general said Thai troops had pulled back. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA) REUTERS/CHOR SOKUNTHEA, REUTERS

A Cambodian family leaves the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh October 15, 2008. Thailand sent more soldiers to a disputed stretch of the Cambodian border near the temple on Tuesday, a Thai general said, hours after a Cambodian general said Thai troops had pulled back. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA) REUTERS/CHOR SOKUNTHEA, REUTERS

PHNOM PENH, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A Cambodian official said on Wednesday Thai soldiers fired first in a brief exchange of gunfire along a disputed stretch of their border. "I can confirm there was fighting between Cambodians and Thais. The Thais fired at us first," Preab Tan, governor of Cambodia's northern Preah Vihear province, told Reuters.

(Reporting by Ek Madra; Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Alan Raybould)