Thai soldiers stand guard near the Preah Vihear temple in October 2008. Cambodian and Thai troops have fought heavy gunbattles on their disputed border as months of tensions boiled over, leaving two soldiers dead just days before a key regional summit.
(AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Thai and Cambodian soldiers fired at each other with machine guns and rocket launchers Friday along a disputed border, an escalation of tension in a long-standing feud near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.
A morning clash was followed by a second gunfight involving artillery that lasted about 30 minutes at the same location. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
"The fighting has stopped. Commanders from both sides are talking," Maj. Nou Sarath, a Cambodian soldier at the border, told The Associated Press. According to Cambodia, the second clash was started by Thai soldiers.
"Our soldiers were at their positions and Thai soldiers opened fire from their territory," said Phay Siphan, a spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers.
A Thai army spokeswoman, Maj. Siriya Khuengsirikul, confirmed the fighting had stopped. She said she had no details about the second clash but that Cambodia had started the first one.
The fighting is the latest flare-up near the cliff-top Preah Vihear temple, which is on the Cambodian side of an ill-defined border that has been a source of conflict for decades. Two clashes last year sparked brief concerns of war.
In the first clash Friday, Cambodia fired on some 60 Thai soldiers after they entered Cambodian territory, sparking a gun battle that lasted about 10 minutes, said Yim Kheang, a Cambodian soldier at the border. Officials from both sides said there were no injuries.
Thailand and Cambodia have long had competing claims to land surrounding the temple, which the World Court awarded to Cambodia in 1962. Tensions flared last July after UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, approved Cambodia's bid to have the temple named a World Heritage Site. Both sides deployed troops.
Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan downplayed Friday morning's clash.
"It was an accident, a misunderstanding among officials on the ground, which is common when you are closely positioned," he told reporters in Bangkok. He made no immediate comment after the second clash.
On Thursday, a Thai soldier in the area lost his leg after stepping on a land mine, but Thai and Cambodian military officials disagreed over which side of the border he was on at the time.
Cambodia and Thailand share a 500-mile (800-kilometer) land border, much of which has never been clearly demarcated because the countries refer to different maps.
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