Cambodian and Thai troops clash in border region that has been a focus of conflict. Up to four dead are reported.
Associated Press
April 4, 2009
Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- Thai and Cambodian soldiers revived a long-simmering dispute over an 11th century temple near their border, trading fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in clashes that left as many as four people dead.
The latest flare-up could overshadow a summit of Asian leaders opening next week in the Thai coastal town of Pattaya. The summit was delayed in December after anti-government protesters took over the two main airports in Bangkok, the Thai capital.
The fighting broke out Friday morning near the cliff-top Preah Vihear temple, on the Cambodian side of an ill-defined border. Soldiers clashed again hours later, but the area was quiet by evening and the two sides were in talks to defuse the crisis.
Accounts varied on casualties and other details. Both sides said Cambodia fired first, but Cambodian officials said it was because Thai soldiers strayed into their territory.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry denied that and said the Thai troops were investigating a land-mine blast the previous day in which a soldier lost a leg.
Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said four Thai soldiers were killed and 10 captured.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry said that only one Thai soldier was killed, seven were injured and none was taken prisoner. But two Thai army officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said two soldiers were killed and 10 injured.
The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over the surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.
Tensions flared last July when UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, approved Cambodia's bid to have the temple named a World Heritage Site, leading some Thais to believe their claim to the surrounding land was being undermined.
Associated Press
April 4, 2009
Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- Thai and Cambodian soldiers revived a long-simmering dispute over an 11th century temple near their border, trading fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in clashes that left as many as four people dead.
The latest flare-up could overshadow a summit of Asian leaders opening next week in the Thai coastal town of Pattaya. The summit was delayed in December after anti-government protesters took over the two main airports in Bangkok, the Thai capital.
The fighting broke out Friday morning near the cliff-top Preah Vihear temple, on the Cambodian side of an ill-defined border. Soldiers clashed again hours later, but the area was quiet by evening and the two sides were in talks to defuse the crisis.
Accounts varied on casualties and other details. Both sides said Cambodia fired first, but Cambodian officials said it was because Thai soldiers strayed into their territory.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry denied that and said the Thai troops were investigating a land-mine blast the previous day in which a soldier lost a leg.
Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said four Thai soldiers were killed and 10 captured.
Thailand's Foreign Ministry said that only one Thai soldier was killed, seven were injured and none was taken prisoner. But two Thai army officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said two soldiers were killed and 10 injured.
The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over the surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.
Tensions flared last July when UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, approved Cambodia's bid to have the temple named a World Heritage Site, leading some Thais to believe their claim to the surrounding land was being undermined.
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