Fighting in Cambodia Spills Over Northern Border

CHONG CHOM PASS, Thailand — Intense fighting erupted Wednesday between warring Cambodian factions, killing a Thai soldier and wounding two others when several shells strayed over the border.

Thailand responded with five artillery rounds, warning the Cambodian gunners to keep the fighting on their side.

Artillery, mortars and small arms resounded around the border village of O’Smach, where outnumbered and outgunned soldiers loyal to Cambodia’s deposed co-premier, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, are holding out against Cambodian leader Hun Sen’s army. It was the heaviest fighting in two weeks.

Hun Sen apparently was launching a major assault against the prince’s troops, who have held out against long odds from hilltop positions ringed by mines.

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry protested the shelling inside its territory, saying it would do “everything to protect Thai lives and property.” It said Thailand again was calling for a peaceful solution to the Cambodian conflict.

Since ousting Ranariddh in a bloody coup July 5-6, Hun Sen has been battling forces loyal to the prince in the jungles of northern Cambodia. The two men had shared power in a tense coalition government since 1993.

Their relations became more strained last year after each side began vying for the allegiance of 10,000 Khmer Rouge fighters who had defected to the government. Many of the former Marxist guerrillas--whose 1975-79 reign is blamed for the deaths of more than 1 million Cambodians--are now reportedly siding with Ranariddh.

In the 1980s, the prince was part of an anti-Vietnamese resistance with the Khmer Rouge, while Hun Sen led a government backed by Vietnam.

After a morning of sporadic fighting Wednesday, Hun Sen’s artillery set fire to a wooden stall at an open-air market. Flames spread to several buildings, sending smoke billowing over the hills surrounding the village.

The market and the village have been abandoned since Aug. 19, when 22,000 civilians sought refuge in Thailand.

Gunfire and artillery exchanges continued through the afternoon, with several rounds landing in Thailand, smashing a gatehouse.

Thai Maj. Gen. Chirasak Prommopakorn said one Thai was killed and two were wounded. He said eight Cambodian resistance fighters were allowed over the border for medical treatment.

In Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, Hun Sen again rejected an appeal by Ranariddh to call a cease-fire as a sign of welcome to King Norodom Sihanouk, who is scheduled to return to his homeland Friday to pray for peace.

Sihanouk, 74, the prince’s father, has been in China since February for medical treatment.