THE SON OF THE KHMER EMPIRE

Reported by Khmerization

The latest news from Preah Vihear indicated that up until 12:20 pm on 4th April, the casualties from the Thai side have risen as high as 18 killed, reports Deum Ampil newspaper.

The same sources from Preah Vihear reported that Thailand had sent 1000 special commando forces, along with six tanks and four light armoured personnel carriers to the areas near the Preah Vihear temple.

In a separate event, PM Hun Sen described the armed clashes on 3rd April as “an incident” not “a war”. He appeal to both sides not to widen the conflict to other areas.

In a speech at Chhouk district of Kampot province, Mr. Hun Sen said: “The armed clashes on 3rd April yesterday is not serious. Today, we hit each other a little bit and we will talk to each other later. But please do not pour the petrol onto the fire.”

Mr. Hun Sen said that the Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva and the Thai Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Anupong Paojinda, said that the clashes occurred because both sides stayed too close to each other. Mr. Hun Sen said: “I will not allow the incident to occur again. Before we throw fires at each other. Now we throw smoked fish at each other. I consider it as an incident. I do not consider it as a war. I must say that there are no casualty on the Cambodian side, dead or wounded. No Cambodian soldier has even suffered scratches.”

He added: “I will not allow this situation to repeat again and again and I will not allow it to spread to other parts of the country.”

Mr. Hun Sen said that he just received news from Preah Vihear that the Thai side had just made a request to retrieve two more dead soldiers, reported Deum Ampil. Mr. Hun Sen added: “I told you (Thai) not to encroach into that areas because there are mines there. Even the Khmer soldiers do not dare to trek into that areas. Hundreds of Khmer people were wounded by ladmines in that areas. If you (Thai) want to enter the areas, you must wait until the areas had been cleared of landmines first.”

Reports from the Preah Vihear areas indicated that at least between 13-15 Thai soldiers had been killed during the fighting on 3rd April in the areas around Veal Entry (Eagle Field), Phnom Trop (Asset Mountain), Sombok Khmum (Beehive) and Preah Vihear (the temple).

The latest news as at 5:25 pm on the 4th of April said that the Thai special commando forces who had just been sent to the areas in the same morning attempted to enter the “forbidden zone”. They were 20 metres away from reaching the “zone” when the Cambodian troops warned them to retreat back.

At the time of this report going to press, those special Thai troops had withdrawn to the Thai side of the border.