Phnom Penh, 27 December (H.S.): Thailand and Cambodia announced an immediate ceasefire on Saturday, halting nearly three weeks of intense border clashes that claimed at least 101 lives and displaced over 500,000 civilians across both nations.

The defence ministers—Thailand's Natthaphon Nakrphanit and Cambodia's Tea Seiha—signed a joint statement at a border checkpoint, effective from noon local time (0500 GMT), mandating no troop movements, reinforcements, or attacks using any weaponry on civilians, infrastructure, or military targets.

The agreement freezes current deployments along the disputed 817-km frontier, warning that violations would escalate tensions and derail long-term resolutions; it will be monitored by an ASEAN observer team and direct military coordination between the two sides.

If the truce holds for 72 hours, Thailand pledged to release 18 Cambodian soldiers captured during July clashes, while facilitating the safe return of displaced residents from forested regions near Laos to coastal Gulf of Thailand provinces.

The pact reaffirms prior de-escalation measures, including heavy weapons withdrawal and landmine clearance, without affecting ongoing bilateral border demarcation effort.

Fighting reignited in early December after a U.S. President Donald Trump-brokered truce—mediated with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim—collapsed following mutual accusations of provocations, escalating from skirmishes to fighter jet sorties, rocket exchanges, and artillery barrages.

Tensions trace back over a century to undemarcated points, with July's five-day clashes killing 48 and displacing 300,000 before the initial halt; no aviation accidents or unrelated incidents marred Saturday's signing amid three days of General Border Committee talks post-ASEAN foreign ministers' Kuala Lumpur huddle.

Thai Air Chief Marshal Prapas Sornjaidee emphasized, War doesn't make our peoples happy, underscoring fraternal ties despite the strife.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar