Thailand and Cambodia truce agreement comes into effect

A truce agreement between Thailand and Cambodia came into effect in the early hours of Tuesday, testing whether it will halt five days of open combat that have engulfed their jungle-clad frontier.

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Both sides agreed an “unconditional” ceasefire would start at midnight on Monday to end battling over a smattering of ancient temples in disputed zones along their 800-kilometre (500-mile) border.

In the Cambodian city of Samraong -- 20 kilometres from the border -- an AFP journalist heard a steady drumbeat of artillery strikes throughout Monday, before the blast sounds stopped in the 30 minutes leading up to midnight.

Jets, rockets and artillery have killed at least 38 people since Thursday and displaced nearly 300,000 more -- prompting intervention from US President Donald Trump over the weekend.

The flareup was the deadliest since violence raged sporadically from 2008-2011 over the territory, claimed by both because of a vague demarcation made by Cambodia's French colonial administrators in 1907.

The peace deal is set to see military commanders from both sides meet at 07:00am (0000 GMT), before a cross-border committee is convened in Cambodia to further salve tensions on August 4.