Thailand and Cambodia agree ceasefire

Thailand and Cambodia ⁠agreed to halt weeks of fierce border clashes, the worst fighting in years between the Southeast Asian countries ‍that has included fighter jets sorties, exchange of rocket fire and artillery barrages.

"Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement," their defence ministers said in a joint statement on the ceasefire, which was to take effect at noon (5am Irish time)

"Any reinforcement would heighten tensions and negatively affect long-term efforts to ⁠resolve the situation," according to the statement released on social media ⁠by Cambodia's Defence Ministry.

The agreement, signed by Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Nakrphanit and his ⁠Cambodian ‍counterpart Tea ⁠Seiha, ended 20 days of fighting that has killed at least ‍101 people and displaced more than half ⁠a million on both sides.

The truce applies to "all types of weapons, including attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas", it said.

Both sides agree to freeze all troop movements and allow civilians living in border areas to return home as soon as possible, the statement added.

They also agree to cooperate on demining efforts and combatting cybercrime.

The ceasefire comes after three days of border talks announced following a crisis meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which both Cambodia and Thailand are members.

The United States, China and Malaysia also pushed for the neighbours to cease fighting.

The clashes were re-ignited in early December after a breakdown in a ceasefire that US President Donald Trump had helped ‍broker to halt a previous round of fighting in July.

The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800km border, where ancient temples are claimed by both sides.

Five days of fighting between Cambodia and Thailand in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the US, China and Malaysia, and then broken within months.

Each side blamed the other for instigating the fresh fighting this month and traded accusations of attacks on civilians.

At least 25 Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian were killed in the latest round of clashes, officials said.

Cambodia, which is outgunned and outspent by Thailand's military, said 21 civilians were killed but reported no military deaths - even as the wife of its leader Hun Manet attended a funeral of troops killed in the fighting, according to an official Facebook post.

The fighting was still raging yesterday, with Cambodia accusing Thailand of intensifying its bombardment of disputed border areas and Thai media reporting overnight Cambodian attacks.

The contested temples are claimed by both nations because of a vague demarcation made by Cambodia's French colonial administrators in 1907.

Those demarcations will still need to be resolved following the ceasefire.

But Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul sounded an upbeat note last night, announcing that the two countries' defence ministers would meet the following day and potentially sign a truce.

"You can trust Thailand. We always uphold our agreements and commitments. Let this be the final signing, so that peace can be restored and our people can return home," he said.

General elections are scheduled to take place in Thailand on 8 February.