Cambodia-Thailand Border War

BBC NEWS
Gunfire on Thai-Cambodia border

Thai and Cambodian troops have exchanged gunfire along a disputed section of their border.

The exchange, near the ancient Preah Vihear temple complex, prompted Thailand to urge its nationals to leave Cambodia.

Tensions have been high since July, when hundreds of soldiers on both sides faced off metres apart.

Both countries claim they own the area around the temple, which recently became a Unesco World Heritage site.

Officials from both countries have said the other side fired first.

There were reported to be exchanges of small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

A Cambodian defence ministry official said at least 10 Thai soldiers had been captured.

A Thai army spokesman said one Cambodian soldier was killed and four Thais wounded.

A Cambodian army official told the Associated Press news agency that the fighting had now stopped and commanders from both sides were trying to negotiate a ceasefire.

After the fighting broke out, Thailand alerted air force jets and readied transport planes to evacuate Thai nationals from Cambodia.

'Death zone'

The military stand-off began in July when Cambodian troops detained three Thai protesters who had entered the site illegally.



Around 2,000 soldiers from both countries moved into the area, digging trenches into the rough terrain around the temple.

The tension turned violent in October when one Cambodian and two Thai soldiers were wounded in an exchange of gunfire.

The two sides have already held several rounds of talks on the issue, but have failed to reach a settlement.

They agreed in August to reduce troop numbers, but last week Cambodia said that 500 Thai troops had massed in the area.

On Tuesday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to turn the area into a "death zone" if the Thai troops did not withdraw.

Thailand denied that its troops had entered Cambodian territory.

Temple tensions

The stand-off between the two countries centres on 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrub near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which sits on a jungle-clad escarpment dividing the countries.


TEMPLE DISPUTE TIMELINE
1962: International court awards temple to Cambodia, but surrounding land remains undesignated
1970s-1990s: Khmer Rouge guerrillas occupy site
July 2008: Unesco lists temple as a World Heritage Site

The temple is only accessible from Thailand and the area around it is heavily mined - a legacy of Cambodia's long war against the Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

An international court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but land surrounding it remains the subject of rival territorial claims.

The decision by the UN in June to list Preah Vihear as a Unesco World Heritage Site reignited lingering nationalist tensions over the issue.

Disputes between the two countries date back centuries when the Thai and Khmer monarchs fought each other for territory and power.

In 2003, the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh was torched by rioters angry over the alleged comments of a Thai actress who said that the Angkor Wat temple complex should be returned to Thailand.

Are you in the vicinity of the Thai-Cambodian border? Have you heard or witnessed hostilities between troops? Send us your comments and experiences.

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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7668657.stm

Published: 2008/10/15 10:12:14 GMT

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