Cambodia fortifies at border
Source: Agencies |
February 10, 2011, Thursday
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HUNDREDS of Cambodian soldiers were camped -yesterday at a cliff-top Khmer temple and World Heritage site in the line of fire in -deadly border skirmishes with Thailand.
Cambodia's government denies that it deploys soldiers at the millennium-old Preah Vihear temple and has accused Thailand of seriously damaging the complex in an artillery barrage.
However, reporters who have reached the temple have found hundreds of soldiers bunkered there. They have seen areas where shrapnel chipped away at some of the sanctuary's ancient walls, but saw no signs of large structural damage.
The United Nations culture agency, UNESCO, says it plans to send a team to makes its own assessment of the damage.
The skirmishes that started last Friday at the disputed frontier killed at least eight people and wounded -dozens of soldiers before easing on Monday.
Thailand accuses Cambodia of stationing soldiers at the temple and firing across the border at Thai soldiers.
Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday it "strongly rejects such a slanderous assertion."
"There has never been and there will never be Cambodian soldiers at the temple of Preah Vihear. This has always been a place for worship and tourism," the statement said, adding that the only security presence at the temple is a small number of policemen with light weapons to ensure safety at the site.
Yesterday, however, hundreds of Cambodian soldiers deployed in and around the sprawling temple compound were seen by journalists, which was fortified by sandbagged bunkers.
Dressed in military camouflage, some played cards inside the temple's shaded walls. Some rested on cots or hammocks while others stacked new sandbags.
"We're here to defend it," said a soldier at the temple, who was inside a sandbagged bunker that was covered with a military tarp. "When the fighting stops, we will go."
He said he and other -soldiers were stationed several kilometers away but moved to the temple on Friday when fighting erupted.
Weapons were visible around the complex, including rifles and rocket launchers leaned against temple walls.
Thai army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd defended his earlier remarks about Cambodian military presence at the temple.
"It's obvious," he said. "You can take a look at the photographs, even the ones taken by them. There's definitely military presence at Preah Vihear. Their soldiers fired at us from there," the colonel said.
Cambodia's government denies that it deploys soldiers at the millennium-old Preah Vihear temple and has accused Thailand of seriously damaging the complex in an artillery barrage.
However, reporters who have reached the temple have found hundreds of soldiers bunkered there. They have seen areas where shrapnel chipped away at some of the sanctuary's ancient walls, but saw no signs of large structural damage.
The United Nations culture agency, UNESCO, says it plans to send a team to makes its own assessment of the damage.
The skirmishes that started last Friday at the disputed frontier killed at least eight people and wounded -dozens of soldiers before easing on Monday.
Thailand accuses Cambodia of stationing soldiers at the temple and firing across the border at Thai soldiers.
Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday it "strongly rejects such a slanderous assertion."
"There has never been and there will never be Cambodian soldiers at the temple of Preah Vihear. This has always been a place for worship and tourism," the statement said, adding that the only security presence at the temple is a small number of policemen with light weapons to ensure safety at the site.
Yesterday, however, hundreds of Cambodian soldiers deployed in and around the sprawling temple compound were seen by journalists, which was fortified by sandbagged bunkers.
Dressed in military camouflage, some played cards inside the temple's shaded walls. Some rested on cots or hammocks while others stacked new sandbags.
"We're here to defend it," said a soldier at the temple, who was inside a sandbagged bunker that was covered with a military tarp. "When the fighting stops, we will go."
He said he and other -soldiers were stationed several kilometers away but moved to the temple on Friday when fighting erupted.
Weapons were visible around the complex, including rifles and rocket launchers leaned against temple walls.
Thai army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd defended his earlier remarks about Cambodian military presence at the temple.
"It's obvious," he said. "You can take a look at the photographs, even the ones taken by them. There's definitely military presence at Preah Vihear. Their soldiers fired at us from there," the colonel said.
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