Ten killed as Thai border temples row flares up again

The fighting near two disputed 12th-century Hindu temples killed at least 10 people on Friday and Saturday, and follows a four-day confrontation in February that claimed 11 lives, making this year's stand-off the bloodiest in nearly two decades and raising questions over the motivation behind it.

Cambodia's defence ministry accused Thailand of shelling civilian villages, a day after saying Thai soldiers fired cluster munitions – anti-personnel weapons banned by many countries – along with shells "loaded with poisonous gas."

The Thai government said the allegations were "groundless."

No-one was reported killed yesterday, though each side said at least one soldier was wounded. The official toll since Friday is four Thai soldiers killed and 25 wounded, and six Cambodians killed and 17 wounded.

"The situation is still under control at the moment. We can handle it," said Thai Army Lieutenant-General Thawatchai Samutsakorn, adding that he believed Cambodia's casualties outnumbered those in Thailand.

Ban called for maximum restraint, "serious dialogue" and an "effective and verifiable" solution to a conflict that he in February urged the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to help settle.

Marty Natalegawa, foreign minister of Indonesia and ASEAN chair, will meet with the Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers today. Thailand and Cambodia agreed on 22 February to allow unarmed military observers from Indonesia to be posted along their border as part of a ceasefire deal.

But that arrangement has yet to be put in place. Thailand said

international observers were not required, insisting the dispute can resolved bilaterally.

"We must not fall into Cambodia's trap in trying to spread a picture of conflict, or say the conflict is unsolvable through bilateral talks. We will definitely not let that happen," Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in his weekly televised address yesterday.

As usual in Thai-Cambodian disputes, each side accused the other of firing first, but witnesses said the heaviest artillery appeared to be fired from the Thai side.

The confrontation comes just a week before Abhisit is expected to dissolve parliament, paving the way for a close election expected by July. Some analysts say the government may be trying to flex its military muscle to score political points.

Others say hawkish Thai generals and their ultra-nationalist allies may be trying to create a pretext for a coup to cancel the elections.

Cambodia's government may also be trying to stir nationalist fervour, but there has been little official explanation for the fighting.

Those caught up in the violence say they fear ties with their cross-border neighbours, many of whom are blood relatives, may never be the same.

"They are like our brothers and sisters. We have no reason to fight. We don't know what happened. We don't know why it happened, but we're all scared," said Wanchai Chaensit, 48, a farmer who fled his village two miles from the fighting."