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Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” after five days of fighting at their border killed at least 33 people and displaced tens of thousands.
“This is a vital first step to a de-escalation and a restoration of peace and security,” said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, flanked his Thai and Cambodian counterparts, as he announced that hostilities would end at midnight.
Thailand initially rebuffed his offer to mediate but agreed after US President Donald Trump said tariff negotiations would not proceed until “fighting STOPS”.
Tensions over the century-old border dispute had ramped up in May after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a clash.
Thailand imposed restrictions on citizens and tourists heading into Cambodia via land, while Cambodia banned some imports from Thailand, including fruits, power, and internet services. Local Cambodian outlets reported that hundreds of thousands of workers had returned from Thailand since May.
The situation escalated last week, after a Thai soldier lost his leg in a landmine explosion. Thailand closed some of its border crossings with Cambodia, expelled their ambassador and recalled its own.
Both sides exchanged gunfire early last Thursday, with each claiming the other had triggered the conflict.
Many of the casualties on the Thai side have been civilians in villages hit rockets, according to Thailand’s army. Cambodia said 13 people had been killed so far on its side, including eight civilians.
Shells and rockets continued to land in both countries even as the peace talks were underway in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
Anwar said Malaysia and other members of the regional bloc, Association of South East Asian Nations, or Asean, were on hand to help monitor the ceasefire.
Both sides will need to agree to pull their armies, which have now been greatly reinforced, back from the border, and to accept some kind of independent monitoring, to prevent further clashes.
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet described it as a very good meeting that he hoped would immediately stop the fighting. Cambodia has been pushing for a ceasefire since Friday, as its outgunned forces have been driven back the Thai military.
Acting Thai PM Phumtham Wechayachai spoke briefly, promising to honour the ceasefire.
Leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has vowed that doctors’ strikes will be banned under a Conservative government
The Tory party leader today announced she would amend the law to bar the protests as she insisted the British Medical Association (BMA) is ‘out of control’.
It comes following 11 strikes in the past 18 months, which Ms Badenoch said had resulted in patients dying.
Her comments were made on GB News amid the ongoing five-day series of strikes resident doctors in support of a pay claim.
Urging Sir Keir Starmer to take similar action, Ms Badenoch said: ‘The BMA has become militant, these strikes are going too far, and it is time for action.
‘Doctors do incredibly important work. Medicine is a vocation – not just a job. That is why in government we offered a fair deal that supported doctors, but protected taxpayers too.
‘These strikes will have a significant economic effect, but they will also mean cancelled operations, worry for families of the sick, and suffering for those who are unwell. We know that previous strike action doctors even led to some patients losing their lives.
‘That is why Conservatives are stepping in, and setting out common sense proposals to protect patients, and the public finances. And we are making an offer in the national interest – we will work with the Government to face down the BMA to help protect patients and the NHS.’
Police, the military, and prison officers are banned from taking strike action under the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act in the UK. The Conservatives would amend this to include doctors.