The Guardian :
Thailand and Cambodia agree to ceasefire, Malaysian prime minister says Neighbouring countries accept ‘immediate and unconditional’ ceasefire after worst fighting in a decade
Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional” ceasefire, the Malaysian prime minister has announced after holding peace talks.
Anwar Ibrahim, who hosted leaders from both countries, said the ceasefire will start at midnight local time on Monday.
“Both Cambodia and Thailand reached a common understanding,” Ibrahim said after mediation talks in Malaysia.
At least 35 people have been killed and more than 270,000 displaced by the worst fighting in over a decade between the neighbouring countries. Clashes continued early on Monday, just hours before negotiations were due to begin.
The ambassadors to Malaysia of the US and China were also present at the meeting in Malaysia’s administrative capital of Putrajaya. It is being hosted at the residence of Ibrahim, the chair of the regional bloc Asean.Hun Manet said he had “a very good meeting
and very good result that we hope to stop immediately the fighting that have caused many lives lost”.
He also praised Trump’s “decisive” role in paving the way for the talks and the ceasefire, adding that he hopes the agreement will lead to the “rebuilding of trust and confidence” between his country and neighbouring Thailand.
In his address, Phumtham, who had expressed doubts about Cambodia’s sincerity before the negotiations in Malaysia, said the ceasefire that would “be carried out successfully in good faith by both sides”.
Thailand’s border province of Surin, said the ceasefire announcement was welcome news for many people, especially those who live along the border and have been displaced by the violence, which broke out into open conflict on Thursday after weeks of tensions and some clashes.
“There are so many people who have been affected by this, and they just want to go home so badly,” he said.
Cheng reported that fighting continued shortly before the talks opened in Malaysia. “We’ve been hearing incoming and outgoing artillery fire even after the talks began,” he said, adding that “a large military build-up” was under way in Thailand.
Thai army spokesperson Colonel Richa Suksuwanon told reporters on Monday that fighting had erupted along the border, and The Associated Press news agency reported gunfire could be heard at dawn in Samrong in Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.
On Sunday, Thailand said one person was killed and another injured by a Cambodian rocket fired at Sisaket province.
Thailand’s military also reported that Cambodian snipers were camping in one of the contested temples on the shared border and accused Phnom Penh of surging soldiers along the border and hammering Thai territory with rockets.
Cambodian Ministry of National Defence spokeswoman Maly Socheata on Monday accused Thailand of deploying “a lot of troops” and firing “heavy weapons” into Cambodian territory.
Maly Socheata said that before dawn on Monday, the Thai military targeted areas near the ancient Ta Muen Thom and Ta Kwai temples, which Cambodia claims are its territory but are disputed by Thailand.
She also accused the Thai military of firing smoke bombs from aircraft over Cambodian territory and heavy weapons at its soldiers, adding that Cambodian troops “were able to successfully repel the attacks”.
