Thailand and Cambodia agree on ceasefire, Thai defense ministry says

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed on a ceasefire, Thailand's defense minister Natthaphon Narkphanit said on Saturday (December 27). 

The weeks of border clashes were the worst fighting in years between the two Southeast Asian countries that has included fighter jets sorties, exchange of rocket fire and artillery barrages. 

Speaking to reporters in Chanthaburi after meeting his Cambodian counterpart at their border crossing, Natthaphon said the ceasefire would be observed for 72 hours starting from noon (0500 GMT).

The agreement, signed by Thailand and Cambodia’s defense ministers, ended 20 days of fighting that had killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides.

For more than a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817 km (508 miles) land border - a dispute that has occasionally exploded into skirmishes and fighting.

Production: Napat Wesshasartar/Reuters