PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Cambodia on Friday held a religious ceremony to honor soldiers killed in recent border clashes with Thai forces and to pray for peace.
They marched from the country’s main religious school near the Royal Palace in the capital, Phnom Penh, to a nearby temple, where they were joined by nuns and laymen and women.
The monks chanted and prayed to honor the souls of the dead soldiers.
A board inside the temple displayed the photographs of more than 40 men in uniform. It wasn’t clear whether these images were of soldiers killed, or included those who were wounded and captured.
Cambodia has admitted only to the deaths of six of its troops in the fighting, which began late last month and continued for five days.
Dozens of people on both sides, including civilians, were killed in the fighting and over 260,000 displaced on both sides of the border.
A ceasefire that took effect on July 29 ended major fighting, though both sides have alleged violations of the truce and the underlying dispute over territorial claims has not been resolved.
Khem Sorn, the chief monk for Phnom Penh, said the main purpose of Friday’s ceremony was to show support to the government for working toward peace and ending the war with a ceasefire.
It was also intended to honor to the souls of the Cambodian soldiers and civilians who were killed, and to appeal to all Buddhist countries, especially Thailand, to live in peace with each other, he told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
“It means that we only want to live side-by-side …