Clashes hit Thai-Cambodia border - Aljazeera.net

Thailand and Cambodia both claim rights to the land surrounding the 900-year-old Hindu temple [Reuters]

At least two people have been killed in clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces on their disputed border, in some of the fiercest fighting seen between the two sides in years.

A Cambodian soldier and a Thai villager were killed, and five Thai and four Cambodian soldiers injured, officials said, during a two-hour artillery exchange on Friday.

The fatalities are the first since a Thai soldier was killed a year ago, and could threaten to exacerbate tensions between the two countries over land surrounding a 900-year-old Hindu temple.

Hor Namhong, Cambodia's foreign minister, said his country would file a complaint with the UN security council, accusing Thailand of invading its territory.

Cambodia's information minister said the clashes began when Thai troops ignored warnings to stop crossing into Cambodia and then sought to remove a Cambodian flag from a small temple in the disputed territory.

"We don't want to say that it was intentional. It could have been caused by a misunderstanding," he told the AP news agency.

A Thai TV station showed villagers fleeing for safety during the clash.

Spying sentences

The area around the Preah Vihear temple, a UN World Heritage site, is claimed by both countries, although the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belongs to Cambodia, but did not determine the ownership of a small plot of land next to the ruins.

Ties between the two countries deteriorated after the temple was granted UN world heritage status in July 2008, with Thai nationalists arguing that the action threatened their country's sovereignty.

Both countries have built up military forces at the border.

Friday's clashes come three days after a Cambodian court handed down jail terms of six and eight years to two Thai nationalists found guilty of trespassing and spying in the border region.

It also coincided with meetings in Cambodia between Kasit Piromya, the Thai foreign minister, and his Cambodian counterpart, aimed at reducing tensions.

Unrest in Thailand's south

In a separate development, three security officers were killed by suspected Muslim separatists in Thailand's south.

A bomb killed killed two security officers while gunmen shot another in a separate attack, police said, the latest escalation of violence in the region.

It follows a bloody raid on an army camp, a massive roadside bombing, the execution-style shooting of a Buddhist family and several drive-by attacks in the past two weeks, which analysts believe was a political statement by Malay Muslim rebels seeking autonomy from predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

The intensification of violence comes after the government hailed the success of security operations and public relations campaigns in reducing the number of attacks.

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Clashes in Sudan as southerners in army refuse to withdraw to north - Washington Post

JUBA, SUDAN - Clashes spread across a key border region in southern Sudan on Saturday after a wave of mutinies among southerners in the northern army, leaving at least 41 people dead as Sudan begins to separate into two nations following a southern referendum on independence last month.

Official results show that 99 percent of southerners who voted backed forming their own country, and full independence is set to take effect in July. The referendum was the core provision of a U.S.-brokered 2005 peace deal between Sudan's Arab and Muslim north and the rebellious African and largely Christian south, ending a 22-year war that led to the deaths of 2 million people.

The recent violence broke out Thursday in Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, as the northern army, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), began withdrawing its remaining contingents in the south.

Former southern militiamen in the northern army mutinied against other southern soldiers and northern commanders, refusing to relocate to the north with all their weaponry. The fighting continued throughout the day Friday. At least 22 are confirmed dead, mostly soldiers, according to a U.N. official, who said the fighting had mostly stopped by Saturday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media on the matter.

Similar uprisings within the SAF ranks erupted Saturday in the Upper Nile towns of Melut, Paloich and Maban, said Malaak Ayuen, head of information in southern Sudan's army, the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

"The fighting has spread across Upper Nile," said Ayuen, who said he could not yet give total casualty figures. The SPLA has stepped in to try to quell the fighting but was not part of the original clashes, according to officials.

On Saturday, the uprising began at Paloich, the base of Sudan's most productive oil fields, before spreading 20 miles to the SAF base in the town of Melut. There, at least 18 soldiers were killed, said Akuoc Teng Diing, the Melut County commissioner.

"The bodies are still being collected, and the number is rising," said Akuoc, speaking by phone from the clash site midday Saturday.

Although part of the northern army, the vast majority of the SAF soldiers in these bases are southerners. Many are longtime veterans who fought in the national army against the southern rebels.

But others only officially integrated into the SAF after the peace deal. During the war, they were part of a patchwork of tribal militias that controlled most of Upper Nile, supported by the northern Sudanese government in Khartoum to wage a proxy war against the SPLA and keep the key border region open for oil exploration.

According to officials, it is these former militiamen who are behind the uprisings.

With all SAF forces now required to withdraw to the north and the southerners in its ranks disarmed and discharged back to the south, the ex-militia elements are resisting the move.

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Clashes break out on Thai-Cambodian border - Xinhua

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The deadly crossfire between Thai and Cambodian troops Friday afternoon at the border area injured at least five Thai soldiers and killed one villager as the two countries' long-time dispute over an ancient temple had been under the spotlight recently.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Friday evening that Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha reported to him that both sides had already ceased fire at around 5.30 p.m. The PM also assigned the military to explain the entire incident.

Thai Public Broadcasting Service quoted Jurin Laksanawisit, Minister of Education, as saying that at least five Thai troops were wounded while one villager in Khantalalak district of eastern Si Sa Ket province was killed in the clash.

Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, Thai Royal Army's spokesman, told Xinhua the border clash started at about 3:15 p.m. after a cannon landed on Thai territory, though a military source in Cambodia said the clash was triggered as Thai bulldozers made the way to Beehive zone in front of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple and ignored warnings by Cambodian soldiers to stop crossing into their territory.

In response to this fresh incident, Thai military spokesman believed the artillery firing from Cambodia was unintentionally and caused by misunderstanding.

"We believe the firings were not intentionally and might have mistakenly occurred. We are now trying to control the situation. This is what the in-charge officials have initially reported but more detailed facts are needed to be examined," Sansern said.

Thai military spokesman said, however, should the Cambodian authorities gear up its military forces along the disputed area, Thailand would not give in. If Cambodia muscled up its military forces, the Thai army was ready to protect the national interest, he added.

Thai villagers living in Tambon Kao Thongchai, Kantharalak district in eastern Si Sa Ket province bordering Cambodia said they heard tens of artillery firings from the disputed 4.6 square kilometers near the Hindu temple but do not know from which side. Sporadic artillery fire could be heard for at least two hours and any artillery shells and a lot of bullet shells were found around the areas.

Residents in nine villages along the Thai side of the frontier have been asked to take shelter or leave the area, said a senior district official at Kantharalak district.

Over 50 shops at Sa Ngum checkpoint in Phusing district in Si Sa Ket which are situated about 100 kilometers away from the clashing point at Phu Makhua mountain were closed down immediately after the fierce shooting had took place.

Meanwhile, Cambodian vendors in border Sa Keo province opposite from Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia also hastened to close their shops and crossed the border back to Cambodia after having learnt about disruption of the incident.

Kasit Piromya, Thai Foreign Minister said during a press conference in Phnom Penh that he would try his best to mend the ties of both countries.

Kasit said that the clash indicated that the border issue was very sensitive and the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO should handle the disputed issue very carefully.

"The border situation around temple is very sensitive and both sides should restrain."

The relationships between two countries should not be affected by a "minor conflict," Kasit added.

Meanwhile, Thai army Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha made remarks Friday evening that he believed it would take some time for the Thai and Cambodian ties to be back to normalcy, but he supports the peaceful method.

"There is no use to resort to violent means. We have to handle the border issue extremely carefully; otherwise, it will badly affect the business in border provinces, lives of the Thai and the Cambodian people," Gen Prayuth said.

This latest confrontation occurred while Thailand's Foreign Kasit Piromya is in Cambodia for the 7th Joint Commission meeting to discuss with his counterpart the bilateral cooperation on various issues including the border matter.

Fresh tension between Thailand and Cambodia over the territorial dispute re-erupted as Cambodia refused to remove its national flag put up in front of Wat Keo Sikha Kiri Svarak pagoda located in the contentious areas of 4.6 square kilometers around the 11th century Hindu temple, triggering the military built-up from both sides.

The border between Thailand and Cambodia has never been completely demarcated and the issue of Preah Vihear temple has been an age-old dispute. Although the Internal Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple itself belonged to Cambodia, the row over land plot of 4.6 square kilometers around the temple has never been resolved.

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