Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed this Sunday, October 19, to an “immediate ceasefire” after talks in Qatar to try to restore lasting calm on their border, after a clash that left dozens dead.
During negotiations that began Saturday in Doha, “the two sides agreed on an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced Sunday in a statement published on X.
The terms of this agreement have not been revealed, but “follow-up meetings will be held in the coming days” between Afghan and Pakistani officials to ensure its implementation, Doha said, hailing “an important step.”
Qatar and Türkiye as mediators
After attending talks in Doha, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed in X that a ceasefire agreement had been reached and said the two sides would meet again in Istanbul on October 25.
“We express our deep gratitude to the two brother countries, Qatar and Türkiye,” who played the role of mediators, he added.
Kabul on Friday night accused its neighbor of breaking the truce after attacks killed at least ten civilians, including two children and three cricketers, in the province of Paktika (east). Pakistani security sources have confirmed “precision airstrikes on Afghan soil” against an armed organization.
The Taliban government “reserves the right to respond,” said its spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, “but out of respect for the negotiating team,” the Afghan forces must “refrain from any further action.”
When the ceasefire was announced on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. GMT, Islamabad said it would last 48 hours, but Afghanistan estimated it would be in effect until the opposing party violated it.
“Regain control”
The truce lasted two days, after the clashes spread to Kabul, the scene of explosions, and left dozens dead. Since the Pakistani incursions on Friday night, calm has returned to the border, according to AFP correspondents in the region.
On Saturday, hundreds of people participated in the funerals of civilians killed in the Urgun district of Paktika, an AFP journalist on the spot reported.
“Today there is an atmosphere of fear and panic,” Anwar Bidar, a self-employed worker from Urgun, told AFP. “I expect a temporary ceasefire in the coming days, but experience has shown us that Pakistan periodically attacks border areas and will continue to do so.”
Recurrent tensions
The military escalation is part of recurring bilateral tensions, fueled by immigration and security issues. Islamabad, faced with a resurgence of attacks against its security forces, tirelessly accuses its Afghan neighbor of “harboring” “terrorist” groups, led by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which Kabul denies.
Kabul must “regain control” over the fighters who use its soil “to carry out atrocious attacks in Pakistan,” Pakistani army chief of staff Syed Asim Munir reiterated on Saturday.
“We have never brought or supported the TTP here,” Afghan Deputy Interior Minister Mohammed Nabi Omari said during a public ceremony in Khost, another border region.
The fighting began last week after explosions in the Afghan capital that Taliban authorities attributed to neighboring Pakistan. In retaliation, they launched a border offensive, to which Islamabad had promised a “strong response.”
Last week, the first explosions in Kabul occurred at the beginning of an unprecedented visit by the head of Taliban diplomacy to India, Pakistan’s historical enemy.
Iran, a neighboring country of the belligerents, expressed its desire to “contribute to easing tensions”, stressing that its “persistence (…) would compromise the stability of the entire region”, during a call between the heads of Iranian and Afghan diplomacy.
Source: BFM TV
