Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Cambodia have held a religious ceremony to honor soldiers killed in recent border clashes with Thai forces and to pray for peace.

Yet up until the recent outbreak that began in late May and ended with a cease-fire on July 28, the two countries were still able to manage bilateral military cooperation after the last of the Khmer Rouge insurgency in Cambodia was defeated in 1998.

Cambodia and Thailand agreed to maintain a ceasefire and allow neutral monitors, as the US cited a “high level of distrust” between the Southeast Asian neighbors after their deadliest border clashes in decades.