Thailand and Cambodia agree ‘immediate’ ceasefire after weeks of deadly border clashes

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate” ceasefire, pledging to end weeks of deadly border clashes that have killed more than 100 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides. Displaced Cambodians head towards a refugee camp near the border in Banteay Meanchey province during the conflict with Thailand.Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images What to know about the Thailand-Cambodia conflict – video analysis In a joint statement, the two south-east Asian neighbours said the ceasefire would take effect on Saturday at noon local time and involve “all types of weapons, including attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas”. “Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement,” their defence ministers said in a joint statement. According to the statement released by Cambodia’s defence ministry, “any reinforcement would heighten tensions and negatively affect long-term efforts to resolve the situation”. The two countries also agreed to cooperate on demining efforts and combatting cybercrime. The agreement, signed by the Thai defence minister, Natthaphon Narkphanit, and his Cambodian counterpart, Tea Seiha, ended 20 days of fighting that have included fighter jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire and artillery barrages. Even as the two countries held talks on Saturday to put an end to the skirmish, Cambodia reported that Thailand hit a site in the country’s north-west with an airstrike. Cambodia’s defence ministry said Thailand deployed F-16 fighter jets to drop four bombs on Saturday morning on a target in Serei Saophoan in the north-western province of Banteay Meanchey. On Friday, Cambodia said a similar airstrike dropped 40 bombs on a target in Chok Chey village in the same province. Thailand’s military confirmed the Friday attack. Longstanding competing claims of territory along the border are the root of tensions that broke into open combat in late July. Despite a shaky ceasefire mediated by the Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, and backed up by pressure from the US president, Donald Trump, renewed combat erupted in early December. Thailand has lost 26 soldiers and one civilian as a direct result of the combat since 7 December, according to officials. Thailand has also reported 44 civilian deaths from collateral effects of the situation. Cambodia hasn’t issued an official figure on military casualties, but says that 30 civilians have been killed and 90 injured. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from affected areas on both sides of the border.

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