PHNOM PENH, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The gunfire exchange between Cambodian and Thai troops over the border disputed area at the Ta Mon Thom and Ta Krabey temples in Oddar Meanchey province began again on Sunday morning, marking the third straight day of deadly clashes, said a military commander on Sunday.
"The fighting started again this morning at 10:05 a.m. at the two temples," Suos Sothea, deputy commander of the artillery unit, told Xinhua by telephone from the battle fields on Sunday.
"Thai troops have opened gunfire on our troops first, starting from small arms and then using artilleries to shell on our troops, " he added.
It is the third straight day of armed clashes between the two countries' troops. The first two-days of clashes on April 22-23 had killed at least 6 Cambodian soldiers and injured 16 others.
While on the Thai side, 4 soldiers dead and other 17 injured, according to reports from Bangkok.
As of Sunday morning, the number of Cambodian families evacuated from the two-day deadly clashes have amounted to 2,560 with 9,800 people, said Ly Thuch, the second vice-president of the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management, on Sunday.
The evacuees have been refuge at safe shelters in Oddar Meanchey province's Samrong district, some 30 kilometers from the fighting zone.
The latest military clashes between the two troops reoccurred just more than two months after the deadly clash on Feb. 4-7 at the border disputed area next to the Preah Vihear temple, a World Heritage Site.
Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008. But Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple. Just a week after the enlistment, Cambodia and Thailand had a border conflict, triggering a military build-up along the border, and periodic clashes between Cambodian and Thai soldiers have resulted in the deaths of troops on both sides.
Source: Xinhua News
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