Photo by: Sovan Philong
Cambodians displaced by fighting along the Thai-Cambodia border take refuge at Tham Mayuth pagoda in Samroang town yesterday in Oddar Meanchey province.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Cheang Sokha and Thomas Miller
Phnom Penh Post
Oddar Meanchey province
The death toll has risen to 12 following a fourth straight day of fighting along the Thai-Cambodian border near Oddar Meanchey province, with negotiations between the two sides stalled in the face of the bloodiest fighting the Kingdom has seen in years.
Clashes broke out again late yesterday evening and lasted more than one hour as both sides exchanged heavy artillery shells and gunfire.
Roth Sopheaphal, a soldier at the front line, said the latest clash broke out at about 6pm at Ta Moan temple and then spread to Ta Krabey temple, about 10 kilometres away.
There were no reports of casualties from last night’s clash as The Post went to press. The conflict, which both countries accuse one another of starting, has thus far left at least 12 soldiers dead – seven Cambodians and five Thais – and dozens wounded over four days. One Cambodian soldier remains missing and thousands of civilians on both sides of the border have been displaced.
Late night fighting on Sunday took the lives of one Cambodian and one Thai soldier, officials and troops said yesterday. No civilian casualties have been reported.
The Ministry of Defence issued a statement claiming that two Thai military jets had flown yesterday over the hilly jungle along the border that houses the temples of Ta Moan and Ta Krabey, centuries-old sites that have been flashpoints for fighting since it first broke out on Friday. The Defence Ministry also said Thailand had continued shelling Cambodian villages as far as 22 kilometres from the border.
Veerachon Sukondhadhpatipak, deputy spokesman for the Thai Royal Army, said he had no report of Thai planes flying over the border area.
Meanwhile, diplomatic manoeuvring to resolve the crisis stalled yesterday after Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa called off planned meetings with his counterparts in Phnom Penh and Bangkok.
Ever since similar clashes that erupted in February near Preah Vihear temple, about 150 kilometres from the fighting in Oddar Meanchey, Natalegawa has been working with officials from both countries in an attempt to mediate the dispute.
Bernard Sinaja, chief of the political section at the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh, said yesterday that the meetings would be rescheduled “as soon as possible”. Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Cambodian Foreign Ministry, said he had not been given a reason for the abrupt cancellation.
Later yesterday, the Bangkok Post reported that Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya had said he would meet Natalegawa and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Cambodia and Thailand dug into their respective positions on whether to allow Indonesian military observers to monitor the border area and ensure a ceasefire. The two countries accepted the observer proposal during negotiations in February, but Thailand has since been reluctant to finalise the arrangement, earning criticism from Cambodian officials.
“If there is no third party to monitor a permanent ceasefire, the [Thais] will continue to invade Cambodia… and accuse us of initiating the fighting,” Koy Kuong said.
Veerachon would not say under what conditions Thailand would allow outside observers to monitor a ceasefire, saying the issue was “quite complicated” and should be settled bilaterally.
“All the agreement[s] should be made through the bilateral level,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VONG SOKHENG
Cambodians displaced by fighting along the Thai-Cambodia border take refuge at Tham Mayuth pagoda in Samroang town yesterday in Oddar Meanchey province.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Cheang Sokha and Thomas Miller
Phnom Penh Post
Oddar Meanchey province
The death toll has risen to 12 following a fourth straight day of fighting along the Thai-Cambodian border near Oddar Meanchey province, with negotiations between the two sides stalled in the face of the bloodiest fighting the Kingdom has seen in years.
Clashes broke out again late yesterday evening and lasted more than one hour as both sides exchanged heavy artillery shells and gunfire.
Roth Sopheaphal, a soldier at the front line, said the latest clash broke out at about 6pm at Ta Moan temple and then spread to Ta Krabey temple, about 10 kilometres away.
There were no reports of casualties from last night’s clash as The Post went to press. The conflict, which both countries accuse one another of starting, has thus far left at least 12 soldiers dead – seven Cambodians and five Thais – and dozens wounded over four days. One Cambodian soldier remains missing and thousands of civilians on both sides of the border have been displaced.
Late night fighting on Sunday took the lives of one Cambodian and one Thai soldier, officials and troops said yesterday. No civilian casualties have been reported.
The Ministry of Defence issued a statement claiming that two Thai military jets had flown yesterday over the hilly jungle along the border that houses the temples of Ta Moan and Ta Krabey, centuries-old sites that have been flashpoints for fighting since it first broke out on Friday. The Defence Ministry also said Thailand had continued shelling Cambodian villages as far as 22 kilometres from the border.
Veerachon Sukondhadhpatipak, deputy spokesman for the Thai Royal Army, said he had no report of Thai planes flying over the border area.
Meanwhile, diplomatic manoeuvring to resolve the crisis stalled yesterday after Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa called off planned meetings with his counterparts in Phnom Penh and Bangkok.
Ever since similar clashes that erupted in February near Preah Vihear temple, about 150 kilometres from the fighting in Oddar Meanchey, Natalegawa has been working with officials from both countries in an attempt to mediate the dispute.
Bernard Sinaja, chief of the political section at the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh, said yesterday that the meetings would be rescheduled “as soon as possible”. Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Cambodian Foreign Ministry, said he had not been given a reason for the abrupt cancellation.
Later yesterday, the Bangkok Post reported that Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya had said he would meet Natalegawa and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Cambodia and Thailand dug into their respective positions on whether to allow Indonesian military observers to monitor the border area and ensure a ceasefire. The two countries accepted the observer proposal during negotiations in February, but Thailand has since been reluctant to finalise the arrangement, earning criticism from Cambodian officials.
“If there is no third party to monitor a permanent ceasefire, the [Thais] will continue to invade Cambodia… and accuse us of initiating the fighting,” Koy Kuong said.
Veerachon would not say under what conditions Thailand would allow outside observers to monitor a ceasefire, saying the issue was “quite complicated” and should be settled bilaterally.
“All the agreement[s] should be made through the bilateral level,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VONG SOKHENG
4 comments:
WHERE THE *&%$ IS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. YOU ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN U ALL OF U. SO MUCH FOR UR FREEDOM, HUMAN RIGHTS AT WHT COST, THE COST TO KHMER PEOPLE IS HORRIFIC. NO oUR PEOPLE WILL NEVER SUFFER THE SAME FATE DURING KR NEVER AGAIN CAMBODIA WILL FALL TO DARKNESS, THANKS TO ALL UR STUPID USELESS ORGANISATION.
WE ARE A STRONG PEOPLE>.
perthkhmerguy
Help is to far and take too long We should learn to help ourselves lately we don't we depend on negotiation but is not working and our gov have three years in hand and just talking we should strengthen our military by now but we don't our poor soldiers life is at risk we should double our men underarm by now I am quite concern I have few friends right in frontline hope and prays .
While Cambodia has been running around for three trying to get help from overseas, Thailand bought arms and use US military to train their soldiers for full war with Cambodia.
It's 3 year too late and behind. What did the Cambodian government achieved for these years, they added more years to its opposition leader not to come back to Cambodia.
This opposition is from France and he could use his influence on the European union countries to help Cambodia nation.
internal bickering will never stop, i agree tht instead of pissing on the opposition, the government should have properly galvanized the SRP and NRP leaders instead they r left out in most important cases relating to the clash, if the government gonna continue with this attitude, consider it a big lost, its a win if u have them united, but the problem is galvanize them correctly, instead of the stupid bickering.
perthkhmerguy
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