FILE PHOTO: This handout photograph taken and released by the Royal Thai Army on July 27, 2025 shows Thai soldiers preparing to repatriate the bodies of 12 Cambodian soldiers to Cambodian authorities at the Chong Sa-ngam border checkpoint between Thailand and Cambodia, in the Thai border province of Sisaket. Cambodian defence ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said on July 31 that talks with Thailand were under way for the release of 20 Cambodian soldiers.- AFP Photo/Royal Thai Army/Handout
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia called on Thailand Thursday (July 31) to return 20 soldiers it said were taken captive hours after a ceasefire to halt the neighbours' bloodiest border clashes in decades.
The two countries agreed a truce on Tuesday following five days of clashes that killed at least 43 people on both sides - the latest eruption of a long-standing dispute over contested border temples on their 800-kilometre frontier.
