BANGKOK, July 28. /TASS/. Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an immediate ceasefire that will take effect at midnight on July 29, local time (7:00 on p.m. July 28, Moscow time), Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said at a press conference after talks in Kuala Lumpur.
TASS has collected the main information about the situation.
About the agreement
- Negotiations between the Acting Prime Minister of Thailand Phumtham Wechayachai and the head of the Cabinet of Cambodia Hun Manet on the settlement of the border conflict took place in Malaysia.
- Thailand and Cambodia are ready for a ceasefire, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.
- It will come into force at 12:00 a.m. on July 29, local time (7:00 p.m. on July 28, Moscow time).
Causes and exacerbating circumstances
- Relations between Cambodia and Thailand deteriorated after an armed incident on May 28, when Thai soldiers opened fire on a Cambodian military post in the village of Techo Morokot in the Phong district in the disputed territory located between Cambodia's Preah Vihear province and Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province.
- One Cambodian soldier was killed and several others injured.
- On June 2, Cambodia said it planned to appeal to the International Court of Justice for a legal settlement of the territorial dispute between the two countries, left over from the times of French colonial rule in Indochina. At issue are the border areas of Mambei, the temples of Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Tauch and Takrabei.
- Thailand rejected the move and unilaterally closed all border crossings on the joint border. Cambodia has taken a similar retaliatory step.
- Thailand has accused Cambodia of planting anti-personnel mines on the kingdom's border territory.
- Cambodia has denied accusations it was responsible for three Thai soldiers being blown up after stepping on landmines, saying the military had deviated from safe patrol routes.
- On July 23, Thailand downgraded the level of its diplomatic relations with Cambodia.
- The Cambodian government followed suit by lowering diplomatic relations with Thailand to the lowest possible level as a response to Bangkok's decision to cut ties with Phnom Penh, the Cambodian news portal Fresh News reported.
- Armed clashes occurred along the Cambodian-Thai border on the morning of July 24 at about 7:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. Moscow time) near the disputed border area in the Oddar Meanchey province.
- The Thai Armed Forces said they used fighter jets to attack positions of the Cambodian forces in response to their use of heavy weapons on residential buildings and hospitals in Thailand.
- The Cambodian Defense Ministry said the army acted in self-defense, responding to the invasion of Thai troops.
Consequences
- At least 14 civilians and eight troops were killed, and another 140 people were injured, the Thai government said.
- At least 13 Cambodians were killed and more than 70 injured in an attack by the Thai army on the border province of Pursat, the Khmer Times newspaper reported, citing the National Defense Ministry.
- About 300,000 people from both sides have become refugees as a result of the conflict, said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.