BANGKOK (Reuters) -Preliminary talks between Thailand and Cambodia defense officials started on Monday in Malaysia ahead of a key ministerial level meeting on Thursday, as a fragile truce continues to hold a week after the two sides agreed on a ceasefire.

Top defence officials of Thailand and Cambodia began talks in Malaysia on Monday to hold the ceasefire on the border, a week after the worst fighting broke out between the two Southeast Asian countries in decades.

Thai and Cambodian officials met in Malaysia on Monday for the first round of cross-border committee talks since a tense ceasefire was brokered last week after five days of deadly armed border clashes that killed dozens and displaced over 260,