PHANOM DONG RAK: Thai and Cambodian troops clashed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades Monday, witnesses said, after a nearly full-day break in fighting that has killed at least 12 people in four days and sent nearly 50,000 into evacuation centres. Gunfire and explosions were heard near two disputed 12th-century temples that have been the scene of sporadic grenade and artillery bombardments since Friday in the bloodiest border conflict between the neighbors in nearly two decades. Thailand renewed calls for one-on-one talks with Cambodia following the cancellation of a visit to both countries by a top Southeast Asian envoy who had brokered a UN-backed peace deal on Feb. 22 to send Indonesian military observers to the border. Thailand has resisted international observers, but Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya declined to rule them out when speaking to reporters at an evacuation camp. “It's not something we are opposed to. This is a sensitive issue,” he said in a briefing about 30 km from the scene of recent fighting. The fighting near two temples followed a four-day clash in February that claimed 11 lives near Preah Vihear, a temple about 150 km to the east. At the centre of the latest dispute are the Ta Moan and Ta Krabey Hindu temples in a heavily mined jungle area claimed by both sides. Thailand says the ancient ruins are in its Surin province but Cambodia insists they fall in its territory. Fighting has been heaviest around Ta Moan, a complex that contains three temples nestled into a mountain pass. Both sides are also positioned around Ta Krabey, where fighting first erupted on Friday and where Cambodia has been accused of building military bases. The official toll since Friday is five Thai soldiers killed and 31 wounded, and seven Cambodians killed and 17 wounded.
