Thai and Cambodian leaders agree to ceasefire after five days of battle

The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand agreed to a ceasefire on Monday effective midnight, in a bid to bring an end to their deadliest conflict in more than a decade.

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia — The leaders of Cambodia and Thailand agreed to a ceasefire on Monday effective midnight, in a bid to bring an end to their deadliest conflict in more than a decade after five days of fierce fighting.

Amid an international effort to quell the conflict, the Thai and Cambodian leaders held talks in Malaysia hosted by its Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, where both sides agreed to halt hostilities and resume direct communications.

Anwar said when opening a news conference alongside the Thai and Cambodian leaders that there would be “an immediate and unconditional ceasefire with effect from midnight tonight. This is final.”

The Southeast Asian neighbors accuse each other of starting the fighting last week, before escalating it with heavy artillery bombardment and Thai airstrikes along their 508-mile land border.

Anwar had proposed ceasefire talks soon after a long-running border dispute erupted into conflict on Thursday, and China and the United States also offered to assist in negotiations.