Cambodian soldiers take a break in Oddar Meanchey province, 20 km (12 miles) from the Cambodia-Thai border, April 24, 2011. Fighting erupted on Sunday for a third day between Thai and Cambodian troops, with gunfire and explosions heard on both sides of the disputed border, Reuters witnesses said.
REUTERS/stringer (CAMBODIA - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS)
Apr 25, 2011REUTERS/stringer (CAMBODIA - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS)
BAN NONGKANA (Thailand) - Thailand yesterday denied accusations that its soldiers used toxic gas against Cambodian troops in a third straight day of fighting that has killed 10 soldiers and uprooted thousands of villagers from their homes.
Officials from both sides said the clashes over disputed territory lasted about two hours on Sunday morning. Cambodian military officials said the shooting resumed in the afternoon.
The skirmishes that began last Friday have killed five Thais and six Cambodians, according to the army officials and press reports, ending two months of peace since the United Nations Security Council urged a permanent cease-fire on Feb 14.
In a statement yesterday, Cambodia's Defence Ministry said Thai soldiers used "heavy guns loaded with poisonous gas" and had shelled civilian villages.
The day before, Cambodian officials said Thai soldiers had fired cluster munitions, anti-personnel weapons banned by many countries.
The Thai government said the allegations were "groundless".
"The Cambodians are really incredible to make up a story like that," said Mr Veerachon Sukondhadhpatipak, the Thai army's deputy spokesman. "They are always making up stories to make us look bad."
The renewed fighting comes as Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva prepares to call an election in early May. According to Cambodian government Mr Phay Siphan, Thailand's military is provoking the clashes to boost its popularity in the event it stages another coup.
"The Thai military is moving against us so they can say they are protecting Thai land and earn credibility from their people," he said. "We are a small country and we can't afford to take Thai land. We need peace to build our country."
United Nations chief Mr Ban Ki Moon called for a cease-fire, but the prospects for peace appeared shaky, with the two sides disagreeing on what triggered the fighting and differing on how to negotiate the conflicting territorial claims underlying the crisis. Agencies
Officials from both sides said the clashes over disputed territory lasted about two hours on Sunday morning. Cambodian military officials said the shooting resumed in the afternoon.
The skirmishes that began last Friday have killed five Thais and six Cambodians, according to the army officials and press reports, ending two months of peace since the United Nations Security Council urged a permanent cease-fire on Feb 14.
In a statement yesterday, Cambodia's Defence Ministry said Thai soldiers used "heavy guns loaded with poisonous gas" and had shelled civilian villages.
The day before, Cambodian officials said Thai soldiers had fired cluster munitions, anti-personnel weapons banned by many countries.
The Thai government said the allegations were "groundless".
"The Cambodians are really incredible to make up a story like that," said Mr Veerachon Sukondhadhpatipak, the Thai army's deputy spokesman. "They are always making up stories to make us look bad."
The renewed fighting comes as Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva prepares to call an election in early May. According to Cambodian government Mr Phay Siphan, Thailand's military is provoking the clashes to boost its popularity in the event it stages another coup.
"The Thai military is moving against us so they can say they are protecting Thai land and earn credibility from their people," he said. "We are a small country and we can't afford to take Thai land. We need peace to build our country."
United Nations chief Mr Ban Ki Moon called for a cease-fire, but the prospects for peace appeared shaky, with the two sides disagreeing on what triggered the fighting and differing on how to negotiate the conflicting territorial claims underlying the crisis. Agencies
1 comment:
Deny and Cleaning Up
Deny....first...
_No,we Thais are good guys, we don't eve know what cluster bomb is.
_No,we Thais are good guys, we don't eve know what poison gas bomb is.
_No,we Thais were good guys, we had never invaded Khmers or stole their land.
Cleaning attempted....
_But we did give some moneys (research grants) and many of our girl student pussies to some Western Researchers to write report study that Angkor was abandoned because of :
_Fail irrigation system.
_Vegetation depletion.
_Major drought as shown in
the tree rings.......
And now we have to find a tricky way to clean our asses again.
Hey Suthep...did you come up with any solution yet..?
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