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Thailand And cambodia They have been removing heavy weapons and carrying out anti-mining operations on their disputed border as part of a plan to reduce tensions since last month. Extended ceasefire signed for a weekThai officials said on Monday.
Thai and Cambodian leaders signed an advanced ceasefire agreement in the presence of the US President in Kuala Lumpur last week donald trumpAfter three months of tension on the border between the two countries The explosion erupted into a deadly five-day conflict.
Government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said Thailand would not release any of the 18 Cambodian soldiers captured during the conflict or reopen border posts until it could assess whether Cambodia was abiding by the agreement.
Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a Thai Defense Ministry spokesman, told a news conference that demining operations had begun along the border, with Thailand proposing demining in 13 areas and Cambodia in one area.
In a joint statement on Friday, the two countries said they had agreed to remove heavy weapons from the border in three phases, starting with rocket systems, followed by artillery and then the withdrawal of tanks and other armored vehicles.
On Saturday the Cambodian Defense Ministry said the first phase of the withdrawal would take three weeks from November 1.
“We hope to complete the withdrawal of heavy weapons by the end of the year,” Mr. Surasant said on Monday.
He said the two countries have also intensified joint efforts to combat international cyber crime and are working on an immediate joint demarcation effort in the disputed border areas.
The five-day war in July left at least 48 people dead and thousands on both sides temporarily displaced. It was the fiercest fighting between the two sides in decades.
A preliminary ceasefire brokered by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim with US help was signed on 28 July.