KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia agreed Thursday to establish interim observer teams to monitor a fragile ceasefire that ended five days of of deadly armed border clashes, even as the fate of 18 Cambodian soldiers captured by Thailand remains unresolved.

Cambodia and Thailand's top defence officials began a meeting in Malaysia on Thursday to finalise a permanent end to hostilities following a violent five-day border conflict that ended in an unconditional ceasefire late in July.

Cambodia and Thailand agreed to uphold a ceasefire, more than one week after a US-backed truce ended the deadliest clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbors in recent history.