Bangkok: Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to end their days-long border clashes, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said this week. The development came after Malaysia offered to mediate in the Thailand-Cambodia conflict, the deadliest in a decade.
The Southeast Asian neighbors have accused each other of starting the fighting last week, before escalating it with heavy artillery bombardment and Thai air strikes along their 817-km land border. Tensions between both countries have intensified since the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a brief skirmish in late May.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai attended the mediation talks in Malaysia's Putrajaya, along with the Chinese and US ambassadors to Malaysia, at Ibrahim's residence.
Observation teams are set to be deployed this week to monitor the implementation of a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, Cambodian Defense Ministry's Undersecretary of State and spokesperson Lieutenant General Maly Socheata said.
As per officials, two observation teams will be operational, one led by the Malaysian military attaché in Cambodia and the other led by the Malaysian military attaché in Thailand, Xinhua news agency reported.
