Two killed in attack on Cambodia poll workers<\/p>\n
PHNOM PENH (Reuters): Suspected Khmer Rouge guerrillas
\nattacked officials taking voting kits to northern Cambodia for
\nthe July 26 general election, killing two security men and
\nwounding five, officials said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The election team was attacked near the former Khmer Rouge
\nheadquarters at Anlong Veng while they were transporting voting
\nmaterial to polling stations on Friday afternoon, the government
\nofficials said.<\/p>\n
The two dead were military men, providing security for the
\nelection team. It was not immediately clear how many of the five
\nwounded were election workers or members of their security team.<\/p>\n
\"The gunmen came from Ta Mok's group,\" Gen. Chea Mon, a senior
\ncommander based in the northern town of Siem Reap told Reuters,
\nreferring to the Khmer Rouge military strongman.<\/p>\n
He said the two men were killed and the five wounded when
\ntheir tractor was attacked by the rebels using automatic rifles
\nand rocket-propelled grenades.<\/p>\n
Chea Mon said the attack took place about 10 km (six miles)
\nnortheast of Anlong Veng. A National Election Committee (NEC)
\nofficial in Phnom Penh confirmed the attack.<\/p>\n
\"We're very sorry about this incident but we're not stopping
\nthe election process there,\" NEC secretary-general Im Sousdei
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
A military official said earlier that some ballot boxes were
\nstolen by the gunmen but an NEC official later said the voting
\nmaterial was mostly destroyed and burnt in the attack.<\/p>\n
The Khmer Rouge, responsible for the death of an estimated 1.7
\nmillion people during their 1975-79 \"killing fields\" rule, have
\nsuffered mass defections and a string of military defeats in
\nrecent months.<\/p>\n
But remnants of the group are still fighting the government
\nfrom remote hills along the border with Thailand. The guerrillas
\nhave condemned the election.<\/p>\n
The Khmer Rouge signed a 1991 international peace treaty
\nofficially ending some two decades of bloody revolution and war
\nbut boycotted a 1993 vote organized by the United Nations.<\/p>\n
The former Khmer Rouge headquarters at Anlong Veng came under
\ngovernment control in March when guerrillas there mutinied
\nagainst their leaders and defected to the government.<\/p>\n
Hardline Khmer Rouge remnants under the command of the one-
\nlegged Ta Mok withdrew to remote hills along the Thai-Cambodian
\nborder to the north of Anlong Veng.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Trad, United Nations officials said yesterday
\nsaid the repatriation of about 87,000 Cambodian refugees living
\nin Thailand was unlikely to be completed as planned ahead of the
\nCambodian general election on July 26.<\/p>\n
An estimated 20,000 Cambodians would probably be left in
\nThailand after the election though repatriation efforts would
\ncontinue after next Sunday's poll, they said.<\/p>\n
The officials added the United Nations High Commissioner for
\nRefugees (UNHCR) and the Thai authorities had repatriated another
\n640 Cambodian from camps in Trad yesterday.<\/p>\n
About 60,000 Cambodians have been living in camps along the
\nThai-Cambodian border after fleeing factional fighting in their
\nhomeland which erupted after a bloody coup last year.<\/p>\n
Cambodia's First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who
\nwas ousted in the coup but is standing in the coming election,
\nhas urged the speedy repatriation of the refugees.<\/p>\n
Many of the refugees fled as Ranariddh's resistance forces
\nretreated to remote Cambodian jungle holdouts near the Thai
\nborder following his overthrow by Cambodian strongman Second
\nPrime Minister Hun Sen.<\/p>\n
About a further 17,000 refugees crossed into Thailand
\nfollowing subsequent Cambodian government offensives against
\nKhmer Rouge insurgents this year.<\/p>\n
Officials said they were unsure whether the Cambodians
\nrepatriated yesterday would be eligible to vote in the election.
\nCambodian election officials have said they have not been given
\nenough time to complete voter registration of returnees ahead of
\nthe poll.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/two-killed-in-attack-on-cambodia-poll-workers-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}