PHANOM DONGRAK, THAILAND, April 27, 2011: Artillery fire boomed across the Thai-Cambodian frontier for a seventh day Thursday as fierce border clashes erupted again between the two neighbors. The border dispute has stirred nationalist sentiment on both sides.
In Cambodia, field commander Col. Suos Sothea said the fighting was centering again around the ruins of two crumbling stone temples from the Khmer Empire at Ta Moan and Ta Krabey, which have been caught in crossfire since last Friday.
The conflict involves small swaths of land along the border that have been disputed for more than half a century. Fierce clashes have broken out several times since 2008, when Cambodia’s 11th-century Preah Vihear temple was given U.N. World Heritage status over Thailand’s objections.
In fighting over the historic temples, both nations are contributing to the deterioration of the site.