Bernama News agency reported that 595 Cambodian families had been evacuated to 30km deeper inside Cambodian territory.
Monsters and critics
Apr 23, 2011,
Bangkok (DPA)- Thai and Cambodian troops clashed Saturday in the second day of fighting near a disputed temple on their common border in a conflict that has already claimed at least seven dead and 19 injured.
'Fighting started at 6:15 am (2315 GMT Friday), but no casualties have been reported yet,' Thai army deputy spokeswoman Colonel Sirijan Nathong said. 'We're still investigating who started it,' she said. 'They are using artillery but the fighting is not as heavy as yesterday's.'
Bangkok (DPA)- Thai and Cambodian troops clashed Saturday in the second day of fighting near a disputed temple on their common border in a conflict that has already claimed at least seven dead and 19 injured.
'Fighting started at 6:15 am (2315 GMT Friday), but no casualties have been reported yet,' Thai army deputy spokeswoman Colonel Sirijan Nathong said. 'We're still investigating who started it,' she said. 'They are using artillery but the fighting is not as heavy as yesterday's.'
Friday's clash left four Thai and three Cambodian soldiers dead and about 13 Thais and six Cambodians injured, officials on both sides said.
About 10,000 Thai civilians have been evacuated from villages along the border in Surin province, 360 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, which is near the new flash point around a temple known as Ta Krabei in Khmer and Ta Kwai in Thai.
Both Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for Friday's 'unprovoked attack.'
It was the latest of several Thai-Cambodian clashes over the past three years, in a standoff over their disputed border which shows little sign of resolution.
Thai and Cambodian troops most recently clashed on February 4-7 near Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO world heritage site about 100 kilometres east of the location of the latest skirmish, leaving five dead.
Thailand has blamed UNESCO for escalating the tensions along the border with its decision to list the 11th century Preah Vihear temple as a world heritage site in July 2008 despite Thai claims that a 4.6-square-kilometre area near the temple is still the subject of a border demarcation dispute.
Thailand and Cambodia share a 798-kilometre border, defined by 73 border demarcation pillars, half of which are missing or disputed.
Thailand claims Cambodia is instigating the border clashes in order to get international intervention in what they insist is a bilateral border dispute that happens to include a handful of ancient Hindu temples such as Preah Vihear and Ta Kwai, which are of Cambodian origin but not necessarily in modern-day Cambodia.
'The Thai side has informed both UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee that the inscription of Preah Vihear by Cambodia would lead to clashes and loss of life among people from both sides,' Thai Natural Resources Minister Suvit Khunkitti told the Bangkok Post.
Suvit, tasked with representing Thailand's stance at the next meeting of the UNESCO committee in June in France, added, 'My warning has come true.'
Cambodia is lobbying to have Indonesian monitors in the disputed areas, a move that Thailand has so far rejected on the grounds that it would be a step towards international involvement in the dispute.
The UN and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), to which both Cambodia and Thailand belong, have called on both governments to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
ASEAN has taken the reins in mediating negotiations, but discussions held this month in Indonesia, which now holds the rotating chairmanship of the bloc, failed to resolve the situation.
The 11th-century Hindu temple, perched on a cliff in the Dong Rak mountain range, which vaguely defines the border, has been a bone of contention for the past five decades.
Both countries claim a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land near the temple, which has been included under Cambodia's management plan for UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.
Since July 2008, both Cambodia and Thailand have beefed up their forces near Preah Vihear, leading to several border skirmishes.
The temple called Ta Kwai, or Buffalo Eye, which was the subject of Friday's clash, is another Hindu complex that is about 900 years old.
--------------------------------
Thai, Cambodian troops exchange heavy fire again
Anusak Konglang
The Sydney Morning Herald and AFP
April 23, 2011
Heavy fighting broke out again between Thai and Cambodian soldiers, a day after six died in the bloodiest border clash since the UN appealed for a permanent ceasefire in February.
The two neighbours have fought a series of deadly gunbattles in recent years in disputed jungle near ancient temples strung out along the frontier, which has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines.
"Fresh fighting started at around 6 am (2300 GMT Friday) with rifles and mortar shelling at the same flash point" as Friday's clash, said a Thai army spokesman in the border region, Colonel Prawit Hookaew.
"We are negotiating to stop the fighting," he said.
Cambodia confirmed the latest outbreak of hostilities.
"The fighting started at 6:15 am. It involves artillery shelling," said defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat in Phnom Penh.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Saturday's violence.
Friday's clash was the first serious outbreak of hostilities since February when 10 people were killed in fighting near the 900-year-old Hindu temple Preah Vihear, prompting UN Security Council members to call for a lasting ceasefire.
The latest fighting, which left three soldiers dead on each side on Friday and more than a dozen others wounded, took place near a different group of temples over 100 kilometres away from Preah Vihear.
Indonesia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, called for an immediate end to the violence.
"Indonesia, as current chair of ASEAN, strongly calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand," Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in a statement released on Friday.
The two sides blamed each other for Friday's clash, which lasted for more than six hours and prompted thousands of villagers to flee the border area.
Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear -- the most celebrated example of ancient Khmer architecture outside Cambodia's Angkor -- was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.
The World Court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6 square kilometre (1.8 square mile) surrounding area.
Observers say the temple dispute has been used as a rallying point to stir nationalist sentiment in Thailand and Cambodia.
The two countries agreed in late February to allow Indonesian observers in the area near Preah Vihear, but the Thai military has since said they are not welcome and they have yet to be deployed.
Cambodia has called for outside mediation to help end the standoff, but Thailand insists the dispute should be resolved through bilateral talks.
Thailand recently admitted using controversial Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions during the February fighting but insisted it did not classify them as cluster munitions.
The arms are defined as cluster munitions by the global campaign group Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), which condemned Thailand's use of the weapons.
About 10,000 Thai civilians have been evacuated from villages along the border in Surin province, 360 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, which is near the new flash point around a temple known as Ta Krabei in Khmer and Ta Kwai in Thai.
Both Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for Friday's 'unprovoked attack.'
It was the latest of several Thai-Cambodian clashes over the past three years, in a standoff over their disputed border which shows little sign of resolution.
Thai and Cambodian troops most recently clashed on February 4-7 near Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO world heritage site about 100 kilometres east of the location of the latest skirmish, leaving five dead.
Thailand has blamed UNESCO for escalating the tensions along the border with its decision to list the 11th century Preah Vihear temple as a world heritage site in July 2008 despite Thai claims that a 4.6-square-kilometre area near the temple is still the subject of a border demarcation dispute.
Thailand and Cambodia share a 798-kilometre border, defined by 73 border demarcation pillars, half of which are missing or disputed.
Thailand claims Cambodia is instigating the border clashes in order to get international intervention in what they insist is a bilateral border dispute that happens to include a handful of ancient Hindu temples such as Preah Vihear and Ta Kwai, which are of Cambodian origin but not necessarily in modern-day Cambodia.
'The Thai side has informed both UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee that the inscription of Preah Vihear by Cambodia would lead to clashes and loss of life among people from both sides,' Thai Natural Resources Minister Suvit Khunkitti told the Bangkok Post.
Suvit, tasked with representing Thailand's stance at the next meeting of the UNESCO committee in June in France, added, 'My warning has come true.'
Cambodia is lobbying to have Indonesian monitors in the disputed areas, a move that Thailand has so far rejected on the grounds that it would be a step towards international involvement in the dispute.
The UN and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), to which both Cambodia and Thailand belong, have called on both governments to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
ASEAN has taken the reins in mediating negotiations, but discussions held this month in Indonesia, which now holds the rotating chairmanship of the bloc, failed to resolve the situation.
The 11th-century Hindu temple, perched on a cliff in the Dong Rak mountain range, which vaguely defines the border, has been a bone of contention for the past five decades.
Both countries claim a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land near the temple, which has been included under Cambodia's management plan for UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.
Since July 2008, both Cambodia and Thailand have beefed up their forces near Preah Vihear, leading to several border skirmishes.
The temple called Ta Kwai, or Buffalo Eye, which was the subject of Friday's clash, is another Hindu complex that is about 900 years old.
--------------------------------
Thai, Cambodian troops exchange heavy fire again
Anusak Konglang
The Sydney Morning Herald and AFP
April 23, 2011
Heavy fighting broke out again between Thai and Cambodian soldiers, a day after six died in the bloodiest border clash since the UN appealed for a permanent ceasefire in February.
The two neighbours have fought a series of deadly gunbattles in recent years in disputed jungle near ancient temples strung out along the frontier, which has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines.
"Fresh fighting started at around 6 am (2300 GMT Friday) with rifles and mortar shelling at the same flash point" as Friday's clash, said a Thai army spokesman in the border region, Colonel Prawit Hookaew.
"We are negotiating to stop the fighting," he said.
Cambodia confirmed the latest outbreak of hostilities.
"The fighting started at 6:15 am. It involves artillery shelling," said defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat in Phnom Penh.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Saturday's violence.
Friday's clash was the first serious outbreak of hostilities since February when 10 people were killed in fighting near the 900-year-old Hindu temple Preah Vihear, prompting UN Security Council members to call for a lasting ceasefire.
The latest fighting, which left three soldiers dead on each side on Friday and more than a dozen others wounded, took place near a different group of temples over 100 kilometres away from Preah Vihear.
Indonesia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, called for an immediate end to the violence.
"Indonesia, as current chair of ASEAN, strongly calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand," Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in a statement released on Friday.
The two sides blamed each other for Friday's clash, which lasted for more than six hours and prompted thousands of villagers to flee the border area.
Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear -- the most celebrated example of ancient Khmer architecture outside Cambodia's Angkor -- was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.
The World Court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6 square kilometre (1.8 square mile) surrounding area.
Observers say the temple dispute has been used as a rallying point to stir nationalist sentiment in Thailand and Cambodia.
The two countries agreed in late February to allow Indonesian observers in the area near Preah Vihear, but the Thai military has since said they are not welcome and they have yet to be deployed.
Cambodia has called for outside mediation to help end the standoff, but Thailand insists the dispute should be resolved through bilateral talks.
Thailand recently admitted using controversial Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions during the February fighting but insisted it did not classify them as cluster munitions.
The arms are defined as cluster munitions by the global campaign group Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), which condemned Thailand's use of the weapons.
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/23/c_13842562.htm
PHNOM PENH, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Thai troops have used cluster bombs and poisonous smoke in the armed clashes on Saturday morning over the border disputed area at the Ta Mon Thom temple and Ta Krabey temple in Oddar Meanchey province, said a Cambodian military commander on Saturday.
"They (Thai troops) have not only fired poisonous smoke on our troops, but they have also used cluster bombs to attack on Cambodian troops and surrounding villages," Suos Sothea, deputy commander of the artillery unit, told media from the battle fields on Saturday.
The fighting began at 6:15 a.m. and lasted until 10:25 a.m., he said.
"There were no rumbles of gunfire explosions at 10:25 a.m., but we don't know if the fighting ended or not, it depends on the Thai side," he said.
He said that some Cambodian soldiers had been injured in Saturday morning's clashes, but declined to disclose the exact figure.
This is the second consecutive day of military clashes between Cambodian and Thai troops over the disputed border areas after Friday's clashes claimed at least 6 lives of both sides' troops and injured over a dozen, and forced thousands of both sides' locals to flee home.
The most recent military clash reoccurred just more than two months after the deadly clash on Feb. 4-7 at the disputed border area next to the Preah Vihear temple, a World Heritage Site.
Editor: Yang Lina
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