May 24, 2009
Mine blast kills soldier
PHNOM PENH - A CAMBODIAN soldier was killed and two civilians were injured in a landmine blast near a disputed part of the border with Thailand, the military said on Sunday.
The incident happened on Saturday around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from an 11th century temple at the centre of a sometimes bloody territorial dispute between the two countries.
'The soldier was helping local people get rattan (cane used for furniture) near the border,' said Cambodian Lieutenant General Som Bopharoath, who is stationed in the area.
'The soldier died instantly. Two civilians were injured and were sent to hospital nearby,' he said.
Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over the land around the Preah Vihear temple for decades, but tensions spilled over into violence last July when the temple was granted UN World Heritage status.
Seven Thai and Cambodian troops have been killed in recent months during sporadic fighting between the two sides.
The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia. -- AFP
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