Thailand denies damaging Cambodian world heritage temple

A Cambodian guard stands in front of a statue of a lion at Preah Vihear temple

BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand's foreign ministry on Monday denied Cambodian claims that Thai soldiers had damaged the ancient Preah Vihear temple with rocket fire during a border shoot-out earlier this month.

In a statement, the ministry said Thai soldiers had only fired rifles, and instead accused Cambodian troops of using rockets during the clashes on disputed land on October 15, which left three Cambodians and one Thai dead.

"In accordance with strict orders, Thai troops have not used heavy firearms or rocket launchers near the temple of Pra Viharn (Preah Vihear) and never fired at the temple," the ministry said in the statement.

It said that a number of grenades landed in Thailand's national park near the 11th century Preah Vihear and injured two Thai troops, adding that two unexploded Cambodian rocket rounds had been kept for evidence.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers, told AFP on Sunday that a staircase and a sculpture were damaged by Thai rocket fire at the Khmer ruins, and said Cambodia had filed a complaint with the United Nations.

Tensions between the two countries flared in July when Preah Vihear was awarded UN World Heritage status, rekindling long-simmering tensions over ownership of land surrounding the temple.

Preah Vihear, with its elegant carvings and crumbling stone staircases, is the most important example of ancient Khmer architecture outside Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple complex.

Although the World Court ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, the most accessible entrance is in Thailand's northeastern Si Sa Ket province.