Thailand and Cambodia sign a new ceasefire agreement to end border fighting

"Thailand and Cambodia signed a ceasefire agreement on Saturday to end weeks of fighting along their border over competing territorial claims. The agreement took effect at noon (0500 GMT) and calls for a halt in military movements and airspace violation for military purposes. Only Thailand has carried out airstrikes, hitting sites in Cambodia as recently as Saturday morning, according to the Cambodian Defense Ministry."

"The deal also calls for Thailand, after the ceasefire has held for 72 hours, to repatriate 18 Cambodian soldiers it has held as prisoners since earlier fighting in July. Their release has been a major demand of the Cambodian side. Within hours of the signing, Thailand's Foreign Ministry protested to Cambodia that a Thai soldier sustained a permanent disability when he stepped on an anti-personnel land mine it charged had been laid by Cambodian forces."

"The agreement was signed by the countries' defense ministers, Cambodia's Tea Seiha and Thailand's Nattaphon Narkphanit, at a border checkpoint. It followed three-day lower-level talks by military officials. It declares that the sides are committed to an earlier ceasefire that ended five days of fighting in July and follow-up agreements. The original July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed."

Thailand and Cambodia signed a ceasefire to end weeks of border fighting over competing territorial claims. The ceasefire took effect at noon (0500 GMT) and requires a halt in military movements and airspace violation for military purposes. Only Thailand had carried out airstrikes, according to the Cambodian Defense Ministry. The deal requires Thailand to repatriate 18 Cambodian soldiers after the ceasefire has held for 72 hours. Thailand's Foreign Ministry protested that a Thai soldier sustained a permanent disability from an anti-personnel land mine it charged had been laid by Cambodian forces. Defense ministers signed the agreement at a border checkpoint following lower-level talks. Earlier ceasefires were brokered regionally and internationally, but violence had recently escalated.

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