PHNOM PENH, Oct 13: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen gave Thailand an ultimatum on Monday to withdraw troops from a disputed stretch of jungle-clad border within 24 hours or his forces would turn the area into a “death zone”.

“Thai troops must withdraw from Cambodian land by tomorrow at the latest,” Hun Sen told reporters after meeting Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat in Phnom Penh. “We will not allow them to occupy our land.”

The Thai army denied any incursion by its soldiers near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which sits on the natural escarpment dividing the two nations and which has been a source of enmity for decades.

“Invasion? What invasion when the land is claimed by both sides?” army spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said.

Tensions have been high since July when around 1,000 soldiers on both sides faced off only yards apart in trenches dug into a hillside that until 10 years ago was under the control of remnants of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot’s guerrilla army.

The area is still littered with landmines, and two Thai soldiers lost legs earlier this month the day after a brief exchange of fire in which soldiers from both sides were wounded.

Cambodian Deputy Defence Minister General Neang Phat said more troops were heading to the area to oppose up to 500 Thai soldiers who had crossed the border.

“We are building up our troops at the border in response to Thailand but I cannot reveal the number,” he told reporters.

Hun Sen said 84 Thai soldiers were “camping” on Cambodian soil about 30 metres (yards) away from his own forces.

At the heart of the dispute is 1.8 square miles of scrub near the temple, which the International Court of Justice awarded to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling that has rankled many in Thailand ever since.

This year’s flaring of the long-running argument started when protest groups seeking to overthrow the Thai government criticised Bangkok’s backing of Cambodia’s bid to list Preah Vihear as a UN World Heritage site.

TALKS RESUME: Cambodia and Thailand on Monday resumed talks on their simmering border spat, following a skirmish between troops near an ancient temple earlier this month.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart Sompong Amornviwat met in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh with the aim of resolving the border dispute.

“The biggest topic for the meeting is the border issue,” Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said.

Sompong is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen later in the day, the official said.

The two countries have swapped accusations of violating each other’s territory in the dispute over land near at least three ancient temples along their border.

Talks to discuss withdrawing troops from around Preah Vihear were postponed late August amid political turmoil in Thailand.

Tensions flared in July after ancient Khmer temple Preah Vihear was awarded world heritage status by the United Nations cultural body UNESCO, angering nationalists in Thailand who still claim ownership of the site.—Agencies

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