Cambodian military officials claimed that Thai military jets flew into Cambodian airspace Monday over two key flashpoints along the border, national media reported Thursday.
"Our troops have been standing by about 200 meters from Ta Krabey temple and this aircraft flew beyond them by a few hundred meters and circled around," Ho Bunthy, deputy commander of Border Military Unit 402, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.
Cambodian troops were not given permission to fire, he added.
He called it a surprisingly brazen act given current tension over the border demarcation between the two countries and said he was given no orders on how to respond in the future after reporting the incident to his commander.
The aerial border breach was reportedly repeated around the same time over Ta Moan Thom temple, also without retaliatory shots fired, the newspaper said.
"I think the Thais used this aircraft to survey our troops standing along the border," said Neak Vong, deputy commander of Brigade 42, which is stationed outside Ta Moan Thom temple.
Neang Phat, secretary of state at the Cambodian Defense Ministry, told the Post he would "raise the issue" with Thai officials during negotiations scheduled for next week, but would not elaborate on the authority of military officials along the border to defend the sovereignty of the Kingdom's skies.
The border dispute between the two neighbors erupted after Cambodia's arrest of three Thai nationalist protesters on July 15,whom authorities allege crossed illegally into Cambodia close to the disputed temple site.
Since then, Thailand and Cambodia have been building up their forces near the temple and tensions have escalated, spreading to other temple sites along the border.
Source:Xinhua
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