Washington– US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to renew the truce after that Days of deadly clashes It threatened to cancel the ceasefire that the US administration helped broker earlier this year.
Trump announced the agreement to resume the ceasefire in a social media post after phone calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Trump said in his post on the Truth Social website: “They have agreed to a ceasefire starting this evening, and to return to the original peace agreement that was concluded with me and them, with the help of the great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim.”
Trump, a Republican, said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim played an important role in helping push Thailand and Cambodia to agree again to stop fighting.
“It is an honor to work with Anutin and Hun in resolving what could have developed into a major war between two wonderful and prosperous nations!” Trump added.
The original July ceasefire The agreement was brokered by Malaysia and passed under pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade concessions unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia attended by Trump.
Despite the agreement, the two countries continued a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued.
the The roots of the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia It lies in a history of hostility over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a map created in 1907 when Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate. Tensions worsened after the 1962 International Court of Justice ruling granting sovereignty to Cambodia, which still angers many Thais.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out air strikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 missile launchers with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles).
According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers killed were injured by rocket fragments.
The Thai military’s Northeast Regional Command said Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border were damaged by BM-21 rocket launchers fired by Cambodian forces.
The Thai military also said it destroyed a crane high atop a Cambodian-controlled hill where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly contained electronic and optical equipment used for military command and control purposes.