Bangkok. Thailand and Cambodia on Saturday signed a new ceasefire agreement aimed at ending weeks of armed clashes along their disputed border, a conflict rooted in competing territorial claims. The ceasefire took effect at noon local time.

Beyond halting hostilities, the agreement calls on both sides to refrain from further military movements and to avoid violating each other’s airspace for military purposes.

Thailand was the only side to conduct airstrikes during the fighting, hitting targets in Cambodia as recently as Saturday morning, according to Cambodia’s Defense Ministry.

Under the deal, Thailand will repatriate 18 Cambodian soldiers it has held since clashes in July, after the ceasefire has held for 72 hours. Their release had been a key demand from Phnom Penh.

The agreement was signed by Cambodia’s Defense Minister Tea Seiha and Thailand’s Defense Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit at a border checkpoint, following three days of talks by military officials under the General Border Committee framework.

The document reaffirms the two sides’ commitment to a July ceasefire that ended five days of fighting, as well as subsequent follow-up agreements, and outlines 16 measures aimed at de-escalation.

That initial July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and reinforced by pressure from US President Donald Trump, who warned that trade privileges could be withheld unless both countries agreed to halt the fighting. The arrangement was formalized in greater detail at a regional meeting in Malaysia in October, which Trump attended.

Despite those accords, tensions persisted, with both sides waging a propaganda war and sporadic cross-border violence continuing before escalating into heavy fighting in early December.

Thailand says 26 soldiers and one civilian have been killed in the clashes since Dec. 7. Authorities have also reported 44 civilian deaths linked to the broader effects of the conflict. Cambodia has not released official military casualty figures but says 30 civilians have been killed and 90 injured. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been evacuated from border areas in both countries.

Each side has accused the other of initiating the violence, insisting its actions were taken in self-defense.

The agreement also commits both countries to honoring international conventions banning the use of land mines, a major concern for Thailand. Thai soldiers have been wounded in at least nine incidents this year by what Bangkok says were newly planted Cambodian mines. Cambodia maintains the explosives were remnants from decades of civil war that ended in the late 1990s.

Another clause calls on both sides to refrain from spreading false information or disinformation related to the conflict.

The agreement further states that previously established efforts to demarcate the border will resume, and that both governments will cooperate to combat transnational crime.

That cooperation is largely aimed at online scam networks operated by organized crime groups, which have defrauded victims worldwide of billions of dollars annually. Cambodia has been identified as a major hub for such operations.