By Panu Wongcha-um
BANGKOK, Dec 27 (Reuters) – Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Saturday to halt weeks of fierce border clashes, the worst fighting in years between the Southeast Asian countries that has included fighter jets sorties, exchange of rocket fire and artillery barrages.
“Both sides agree to maintain current troop deployments without further movement,” their defence ministers said in a joint statement on the ceasefire, to take effect at noon (0500 GMT).
“Any reinforcement would heighten tensions and negatively affect long-term efforts to resolve the situation,” according to the statement released on social media by Cambodia’s Defence Ministry.
The agreement, signed by Thai Defence Minister Natthaphon Nakrphanit and his Cambodian counterpart Tea Seiha, ended 20 days of fighting that has killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides.
The clashes were re-ignited in early December after a breakdown in a ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump had helped broker to halt a previous round of fighting in July.
(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by William Mallard)
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