BANGKOK: Thailand and Cambodia on Saturday signed a ceasefire agreement to end weeks of armed combat along their border over competing claims to territory. It took effect at noon local time.

In addition to ending fighting, the agreement calls for no further military movements by either side and no violations of either side's airspace for military purposes.

Only Thailand had employed airstrikes in the fighting, hitting sites in Cambodia as recently as Saturday morning according to the country's defence ministry.

Another major clause calls for Thailand “after the ceasefire has been fully maintained for 72 hours” is to repatriate 18 Cambodian soldiers it has held as prisoners since earlier fighting in July.

Their release has been a major demand of the Cambodian side.

It says the two sides are committed to an earlier ceasefire that ended five days of fighting in July and follow-up agreements.

The original July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.

Despite those deals, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued, escalating in early December to widespread heavy fighting.