No Cambodian soldier injured in 3rd day of clashes with Thailand

25 Apr, 2011
Xinhua

None of Cambodian soldiers were reported injured or killed in Sunday's fighting with the Thai troops, a field military commander told Xinhua Sunday.

"The third day of gunfire exchange between Cambodian and Thai troops over the border disputed areas in Oddar Meanchey province started at 1:05 p.m. and ended at 1:05 p.m., and none of our troops were injured or killed in today's fighting, " Suos Sothea, deputy commander of the artillery unit, told Xinhua by telephone.

He said that in this Sunday clashes, Thai troops have used sophisticated guns, artilleries, and cluster bombs to attack on Cambodian troops and it had attacked strongly at Thmor Daun area near Ta Krabey temple.

According to the statement from Cambodian Ministry of Defense on Sunday, Thai troops had shelled thousands of artillery rounds into Thmor Daun area, and hundreds of artillery rounds into civilian settlements in the Kork Morn region, Banteay Ampil District, Oddar Meanchey Province.

And the invading Thai military had fired rockets, pounding the vicinity of Ta Mon temple, and this attack was supported by ground forces in order to take control of the temple, the statement said.

The first two-days of clashes on April 22-23 had killed at least 6 Cambodian soldiers and 16 injured.

While on the Thai side, 4 soldiers dead and other 17 injured, according to the report from Bangkok.

As of Sunday morning, the number of Cambodian families evacuated from the two-day deadly clashes have amounted to 2,560 families with 9,800 people, said Ly Thuch, the second vice- president of the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management, on Sunday.

The evacuees have been refuged at safe shelters in Oddar Meanchey province's Samrong district, some 30 kilometers from the fighting zone.

It's reported that more villagers have been evacuated for safe shelters since this Sunday morning clashes.

The border between Thailand and Cambodia has never been completely demarcated. Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008. But Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple. Just a week after the enlistment, Cambodia and Thailand had a border conflict, triggering a military build-up along the border, and periodic clashes between Cambodian and Thai soldiers have resulted in the deaths of troops on both sides.

Source: Xinhua