Cambodian troops fired shots at a passenger aircraft flying near the country’s

Cambodian troops fired shots at a passenger aircraft flying near the country’s disputed border with Thailand, believing it to be a spy plane, the Thai army said.

“The Cambodian military fired because there was a Thai passenger plane — Bangkok Airways — which could not land at Siem Reap airport because of bad weather,” said deputy army spokesman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong.

“It was misunderstood by Cambodia to be spy plane,” he said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident near the northern Cambodian tourist destination of Siem Reap.

Cambodian military at the border — the site of deadly territorial clashes between the neighbouring countries last year — confirmed troops had opened fire at an aircraft.

“It was dark so we could not see what type of plane it was. But it was circling many times and then our soldiers fired 18 shots from a machine gun, but it missed the plane because it was flying very high,” Commander Seng Phearin told AFP.

“I think a passenger plane would not fly around the border. We suspected it was a spy plane, so we fired to defend our airspace,” he said, adding the aircraft had been around 10 kilometres (six miles) inside Cambodia.

He said the incident happened at 19:00 local time (1200GMT) on Wednesday, although the Thai authorities said it occurred Thursday morning.

Bangkok Airways could not be reached for comment.

Source AFP