Govt forces fail to recapture temple from Khmer Rouge
Govt forces fail to recapture temple from Khmer Rouge
PHA MOR IDANG, Thailand (Agencies): Cambodian forces failed in a recent unpublicized offensive to drive out Khmer Rouge guerrillas from a historic hill top temple which straddles the Thai-Cambodian border, Thai military officers said yesterday.
"Government troops based at the bottom of the mountain used heavy artillery but the fighting stopped March 24 with the temple still under Khmer Rouge control," Thai Ranger Col. Surapol Risksamram told reporters at an army border post some two kilometers (mile) east of the Preah Vihear temple.
The temple, which is set on a dramatic escarpment overlooking dense jungle on Cambodia's northern Dangrek mountain range, was seized by the guerrillas last July.
During the recent fighting the Cambodian forces avoided firing directly at the temple for fear of damaging the sacred ruins but targeted the surrounding area, the colonel said.
Thai military officers also complained that shells landed on Thai territory and brandished pieces of rocket shrapnel.
Phnom Penh's forces were faced with a tough task trying to recapture the temple because of its strategic hill top location, the colonel said.
"If you try to attack directly, you lose. The only way to capture the temple is to surround the area," the colonel said.
Col. Prajack Visuttakol, deputy commander of the Suranaree Task Force, said two Phnom Penh soldiers were killed by mines when they tried to climb the steep trail up to the temple during the attack. Prajack, however, said he was unaware of any other casualties.
Thai military officers were adamant that they had no contact with the Khmer Rouge.
The estimated 100 strong group of guerrillas occupying the site received their supplies from areas under Khmer Rouge control further to the west, Prajack said.
Asked about several shots that rang out from the temple, Prajack replied: "That's the Khmer Rouge saying 'hello'."
The 10th century Preah Vihear temple is considered second only to the world famous Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia's Siem Reap province and it was visited by some 1,000 tourists daily, the Ranger colonel said, adding that the site had been closed to tourists since its seizure by the Khmer Rouge.
Big strongholds
Meanwhile, Cambodia's army, fresh from a victory over Khmer Rouge guerrillas, now plans to capture one of their last big strongholds on the Thai border, co-Defense Minister Tea Banh said yesterday.
"The Royal Cambodian armed forces has a duty to capture not only Phnom Malai but all zones illegally controlled by the Khmer Rouge," Tea Banh told reporters at Phnom Penh airport on returning from talks in neighboring Vietnam.
He declined to speculate on the timing of an attack against mountainous Phnom Malai, on Cambodia's northwestern border with Thailand. "We will do it at the appropriate time," he said.
Tea Banh said the government was still open to talks with the guerrillas. "We always want to sit down and talk to solve problems because armed confrontation never solves problems."
Phnom Malai is a rugged mountain range in a wedge of Cambodian territory jutting into Thailand about 80 kilometers north of the former Khmer Rouge headquarters of Pailin.