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A 1,000-year-old temple lies battered after Cambodia-Thailand border clashes
The temple suffered damage at over 560 locations during 2025 fighting, and restoration efforts face delays amid ongoing border tensions, Cambodia's Culture Ministry said.
- Three months after a ceasefire ended bitter border fighting, Preah Vihear temple atop a 525-meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountain range shows stone debris, artillery craters, and burnt vegetation across its 11th-century structures.
- The temple, known as Phra Viharn to Thais, has been contested since the 1950s; the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 and reaffirmed in 2013 that the site belongs to Cambodia.
- Cambodia's Culture Ministry reported all five gateway pavilions were damaged, three almost beyond recognition, with hits recorded at 142 locations during July fighting and 420 more during December combat.
- The site is closed to tourism due to unstable walls and unexploded ordnance; conservation staff and troops remain stationed there while areas are roped off with land-mine warnings.
- Archaeologist and deputy director-general of the National Authority for Preah Vihear Hem Sinath warns weakened structures could collapse during the rainy season starting late May or early June, but urgent repairs face safety constraints and paused international funding from India, China and the United States.
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A 1,000-year-old Temple Lies Battered after Cambodia-Thailand Border ...
·Washington, United States
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It has been three months since a ceasefire ended the intense border fighting between Cambodia and Thailand, but the traces of the conflict are deep in this 11th-century Hindu temple at the top of a 525-metre cliff (1,722 feet) in the Dangrek Mountains.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources23
Leaning Left5Leaning Right6Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution45% Center
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources are Center
45% Center
L 25%
C 45%
R 30%
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