A truce agreement between Thailand and Cambodia came into effect in the early hours of Tuesday, testing whether it will halt the worst fighting between the neighbouring countries in more than a decade.
Both sides agreed an “unconditional” ceasefire would start at midnight on Monday to end battling over a smattering of ancient temples in disputed zones along their 800km (500-mile) border.
In Cambodia’s Samraong city – 20km from the border – an AFP journalist heard a steady drumbeat of artillery strikes throughout Monday before blast sounds stopped in the 30 minutes leading up to midnight.
Jets, rockets and artillery have killed at least 38 people since Thursday and displaced nearly 300,000 more – prompting intervention at the weekend from Donald Trump, who has taken credit for the ceasefire deal. The US president has threatened both countries with high tariffs and warned that trade negotiations would be paused until the fighting stopped.
The peace deal was set to see military commanders from both sides meet at 7am local time (0000 GMT), before a cross-border committee is convened in Cambodia to further salve tensions on 4 August.
“When I heard the news I was so happy because I miss my home and my belongings that I left behind,” Phean Neth, 45, said on Monday evening at a sprawling camp for Cambodian evacuees on a temple site away from the fighting. “I am so happy that I can’t describe it.”
A joint statement from both countries as well as Malaysia, which hosted the peace talks, said the ceasefire was “a vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security”.
A spokesperson for UN secretary general, António Guterres, said on Monday evening that “he urges both countries to respect the agreement fully and to create an environment conducive to addressing longstanding issues and achieving lasting peace”.
The US state department said its officials had been “on the ground” to shepherd peace talks.
The joint statement said China also had “active participation” in the talks, hosted by the Malaysian prime minister and chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regional bloc, Anwar Ibrahim, in his country’s administrative capital, Putrajaya.
Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Manet, thanked Trump for his “decisive” support, while his counterpart, Thailand’s acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai, said it should be “carried out in good faith by both sides”.
On the eve of the talks, Thailand’s military said Cambodian snipers were camped in one of the contested temples, and accused Phnom Penh of surging troops along the border and hammering Thai territory with rockets.
It said there was fighting at seven areas in the rural region, marked by hills surrounded by jungle and fields where locals farm rubber and rice.
The Thai king, Maha Vajiralongkorn, marked his 73rd birthday on Monday but a notice in the country’s Royal Gazette said public celebrations scheduled for Bangkok’s Grand Palace had been cancelled amid the strife.
With reporting from Rebecca Ratcliffe and Agence France-Presse