Written by Thet Sambath and Brendan Brady
The Phnom Penh Post
Cambodian and Thai troops suffered injuries during an exchange of
gunfire Friday afternoon near Preah Vihear temple, in the first real
military fighting of the prolonged border standoff, say Cambodian
officials.
"One Cambodian was shot in the arm, and we believe one or two Thai
soldiers were injured," according to Yim Phim, the commander of brigade
43, which is stationed in the area.
He said the incident started at around 3:00pm when about a dozen Thai
soldiers approached a Cambodian army encampment at Phnom Troap, just a
couple kilometres from the World-Heritage listed temple, and demanded
troops there leave.
"They showed them a Thai-made map and told the Cambodians to get off the
land. An argument went on for a while," said Yim Phim. "The Thais then
withdrew about ten meters and started firing."
"Thai soldiers first fired an M-79 (grenade launcher), and Cambodians
shot back with a B-40 (grenade launcher). Then both sides fired with
machine guns," he said.
He said the Thai soldiers withdrew across the border after dark, around
5:30, while the Cambodian soldiers remained in their original position.
"In that area, soldiers from both countries used to stay close to each
other, but the situation has changed and now everyone is on high alert."
Srey Doek, the highest-ranking military official stationed inside the
Preah Vihear temple complex, told the Post Saturday morning that his
Thai counterpart had requested to meet him Saturday afternoon in the
local pagoda, but he still did not have authority from his superiors to
attend.
Cambodian government and army leaders have thrown a wet blanket on the
first reported violent military clash since the standoff began more than
11 weeks ago, characterizing it as a localized incident that would not
threaten to spread to other points along the border.
Chea Morn, head commander of Military Region 4, which includes Preah
Vihear province, corroborated that "a clash", as described by the
brigade commander, had taken place, but said it was "just a small
problem... and would be resolved."
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said the Cambodian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs would contact its Thai counterpart to discuss to
incident, but called it "a problem between the soldiers stationed in
that area... and not a problem between the governments."
"The government's position is still that diplomatic negotiations must be
used to solve this dispute."
Just earlier this week, in the sidelines of the UN General Assembly
summit in New York, top foreign affairs officials from both sides
reiterated the commitment of their governments to resolving the dispute
peacefully.
Phay Siphan said talks between the Cambodian and Thai prime ministers on
October 13 in Phnom Penh would proceed as planned.
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