Thailand and Cambodia agree on ceasefire to end weeks of deadly fighting

Thailand and Cambodia said they have signed a ⁠ceasefire ​agreement to end weeks of fierce fighting along their border that has killed more than 100 people and displaced more than half a million civilians in both countries.

“Both sides agree to an immediate ceasefire after the time of signature of this Joint Statement,” ‍the Thai and Cambodian defence ⁠ministers said in a statement on Saturday.

“Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement,” the ministers said.

The ceasefire took effect at noon local time (05:00 GMT) on Saturday and extends to “all types of weapons” and “attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructures, and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas”.

Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from the Cambodian border city of Poipet, said the “guns seem to have fallen silent” as both sides adhered to the truce.

“But I must tell you, right up until the point of that ceasefire being implemented, there was some intense firing going on… really, really intense – right up until that moment. And it kind of gives you the idea of how fragile this actually is,” Baig said.

“That doesn’t instil a great deal of confidence in people here who want to return home and will be watching if this ceasefire will hold,” he said.

The agreement, signed by Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit and his Cambodian counterpart Tea Seiha, ‌ends 20 days of fighting, the worst between the two Southeast Asian neighbours in years.

As part of the deal, Thailand has agreed to return 18 Cambodian soldiers – captured in previous clashes – 72 hours after the ceasefire “has been fully maintained”.

At the same time, the two sides agreed to refrain from taking “provocative actions that may escalate tensions” and avoid “disseminating false information” in order to de-escalate tensions.

A team of observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will monitor the implementation of the current agreement, the deal states, adding that both countries have also agreed to maintain open communication “to resolve” any possible issues on the ground.

On Sunday, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn is scheduled to travel to Yunnan, China, to hold a trilateral meeting with his Thai counterpart and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The meeting is being billed as a “mutual confidence” building initiative aimed at restoring “peace, security, and stability” along the border, according to a statement on Saturday.

Al Jazeera’s Baig reported that “the next 72 hours is crucial” for the success of the truce and hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians will likely not make any move to return home until their safety is ensured.

The conflict stems from territorial disputes along the neighbours ‘ 800-kilometre (500-mile) border, where ancient temples are claimed by both sides and colonial-era frontier demarcations have been resented by both countries for more than a century.

In the most recent outbreak of violence, five days of fighting in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China and Malaysia. That truce was broken earlier this month.

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