UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on warring Cambodia and Thailand to declare a ceasefire, as border clashes between the two countries continued for a third day, BBC reported on Sunday.
“The secretary-general calls on both sides to exercise maximum restraint and to take immediate measures to put in place for an effective and verifiable ceasefire,” BBC quoted an UN spokesman Martin Nesirky as saying.
Clashes on the disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia intensified on Friday, leaving four Thai and three Cambodian servicemen dead. By Sunday, the conflict left up to 10 soldiers from both sides dead, according to Bangkok Post figures.
Border conflicts between the two states over the ownership of the 11th century Preah Vihear Temple that began a century ago resumed in 2010-2011. The two neighbors fought a four-day war near the temple this February, and a ceasefire has been in place since March.
The border between Thailand and Cambodia has never been demarcated in detail.
The Preah Vihear temple was awarded to Cambodia in a 1962 ruling by the World Court, but the issue of sovereignty over the adjacent land was not resolved and remains a point of contention between the Southeast Asian neighbors.
MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti)