Machine gun and rocket fire has broken out between Thai and Cambodian soldiers confronting each other over an eleventh century temple on their disputed border.
"Cambodian and Thai troops are opening fire at each other now," Brigadier Bun Thean said from the scene.
"Our troops prevented Thai troops from entering our territory, but they started to open fire at our troops right away," he said, adding there was "heavy gunfire" at two areas near the Preah Vihear temple.
"I heard gunfire all over the place in this area," said Chor Sokunthea, a photographer from Reuters. "One rocket flew from Thailand over my head and landed. Now you can hear the fighting. They've opened fire. I have to find a safe place to hide."
Thai officials represented the violence as “small scale” and isolated.
Both sides accused the other of shooting first.
But following the outbreak of fighting Thai foreign minister Sompong Amornvivat advised all nationals to leave Cambodia.
Ten Cambodian soldiers inside the disputed territory reportedly surrendered to Thai troops.
At the centre of the deadly confrontation is 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrubby forest. Above it on the ridge which forms the border between the two countries stands the ruined Hindu temple of Preah Vihear, which the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 belongs to Cambodia.
That decision still upsets most Thais, and both countries still claim the tiny plot of land next to the ruin. The area was heavily militarized in July, when both sides rushed troops and artillery to the area.
Tensions escalated on Monday when the Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen accused Thailand of having its soldiers on Cambodian territory. He gave them 24 hours to withdraw, threatening he would turn the area into a “death zone” if they failed to do so.
Thailand meanwhile insisted it had not violated Cambodian territory and sent re-enforcements to the area in case Cambodia attacked. Thai television showed images of tanks heading to the area while the air force put its fighter jets on standby.
C-130 transport planes are also on standby at a base in the capital, Bangkok, to evacuate Thais living in the border area "if the tension escalates to a military confrontation," Thai air force official Group Capt. Montol Satchukorn said.
According to Cambodian officials, around 500 Thai troops were massing at the disputed patch of land near the Preah Vihear temple. Thailand refused to confirm its troop strength but said Cambodia had also sent reinforcements.
There was a smaller outbreak of shooting on October 3, when 1 Cambodian and two Thai soldiers were injured.
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