Three die in Thai-Cambodia gunbattles

The Standard

04-03 - 09

Cambodian and Thai troops fought heavy gunbattles along their disputed border, leaving three soldiers dead in a major flare-up of a long-running feud over an ancient temple.

Soldiers traded rocket, machinegun and mortar fire near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple on the frontier, following a brief exchange of shots earlier in the day, officials from both sides said.

The same area was the scene of several clashes last year after Cambodia successfully applied for United Nations world heritage status for the ruins in July, with four soldiers killed in a battle in October.

''We are fighting with each other, it is serious gunfire. Two of our soldiers have been killed,'' Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said. ''The gunfire is continuing in at least two areas,'' he added.

One Thai soldier was also killed, Seni Chittakasem, the governor of Thailand's Si Sa Ket province, said. Hospital officials said the dead man was shot in the chest and that 10 others were wounded, two of them critically.

Military commanders later held talks to ease tensions near the flashpoint temple, ownership of which was awarded to Cambodia in 1962 by the International Court of Justice, although the land around the ruins remains disputed.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE