"On Oct. 3, 2008, at 15:30, a group of Thai soldiers entered Cambodian territory in the area of Phnom Trap and fired gunshots from M.79 at the Cambodian troops stationed at Veal Intry area on Phnom Trap hill side, located approximately 2,000 meters to the west of Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda (in the area of Preah Vihear Temple)," said Cambodia's Foreign Ministry in a letter to the Thaiembassy which was obtained by Xinhua.
"The shooting resulted in the injury of one Cambodian soldier from Brigade No 43," the letter said, adding that Cambodian troops returned fire in self defense, which was followed by a brief exchange of gunfire between the sides.
"The Royal Government of Cambodia considers the above act by Thai soldiers as a serious armed provocation, contrary to the commitment to exercise utmost restraint made during the Meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries on July 28, 2008 at Siem Reap, Cambodia and on Aug. 18-19, 2008 at Cha-am, Thailand," the letter said.
The Cambodian government strongly protests against this "deplorable and intentional armed provocation" by Thai soldiers, it said.
Such armed provocation by Thai soldiers could lead to very grave consequences, including "full scale armed hostility" which would adversely affect the present efforts of the two governments to seek out a peaceful and amicable solution to the current border problems, it added.
Meanwhile, Cambodian officials said the area was calm Saturday and that an investigative committee was inspecting the area to determine how the incident occurred since troops on both sides have been ordered not to fire.
Thai new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is scheduled to visitCambodia on Oct. 13, which is a routine visit to ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) members after he was elected as Thai leader.
Cambodian Information Minister and government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said late Friday that the exchange of fire would not affect the visit of Thai Prime Minister to Cambodia.
The border row between the two neighbors erupted after Cambodia's arrest of three Thai nationalist protesters on July 15, whom authorities allegedly crossed illegally into Cambodia close to thedisputed Preah Vihear temple site.
Since then, Thailand and Cambodia have been building up their forces near the temple and tensions have escalated, spreading to other temple sites along the border.
| Editor: David Du |
No comments:
Post a Comment