12 dead in Thai-Cambodian fighting

12 dead in Thai-Cambodian fighting

BANGKOK: Three days of heavy fighting between Thailand and Cambodia on their disputed border have left 12 people dead, with another soldier killed on each side, officials said on Monday.

Seven Cambodian and five Thai troops have died in exchanges of artillery shells and small arms fire on their jungle frontier.

A Thai army ranger was killed late on Sunday, said a Thai military spokesman in the border area, Colonel Prawit Hookaew.

One more Cambodian soldier was also killed late on Sunday, Cambodian field commander Suos Sothea told AFP.

"One of our soldiers was shot dead by a Thai sniper last night... during a patrol," he said.

He added that another Cambodian soldier had been missing since Friday. "we have not yet located him."

Thai and Cambodian soldiers were locked in a tense standoff at the border on Monday but fighting appeared to have abated after three days of cross-border shelling that began on Friday.

It is the first serious outbreak of hostilities since February when 10 people were killed in clashes near the 900-year-old disputed temple Preah Vihear, prompting the UN Security Council to call for a lasting ceasefire.

The latest fighting has been taking place near a different groups of temples about 150 kilometres (90 miles) away.

The two neighbours have fought a series of deadly gunbattles in recent years in the jungle near ancient temples along the border, which has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~