Afghanistan, Pakistan agree to ceasefire after deadly border clashes: Qatar

Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire after a week of deadly border clashes, Qatar said. The truce follows Pakistani airstrikes in Paktika that killed civilians, triggering Taliban condemnation and diplomatic mediation by Qatar and Turkey.

Islamabad: Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. This follows more than a week of fighting that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds.

The two sides agreed to establish mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability, as well as holding follow-up talks in the coming days to ensure the ceasefire’s sustainability, the Qatari statement said.

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Delegations from Afghanistan and Pakistan were in Doha for talks to resolve the deadliest crisis between them in several years, after more than a week of fighting killed dozens of people and injured hundreds on both sides.

The talks were mediated by Qatar and Turkey. Both the governments had sent their defence ministers to lead the talks, which, Pakistan said, would focus on “immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the border.” Each country had said it was responding to aggression from the other. Afghanistan denies harbouring militants who carry out attacks in border areas.

Regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have called for calm, as the violence threatened to further destabilise a region where groups including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida are trying to resurface.

A 48-hour ceasefire intended to pause hostilities expired on Friday evening. Hours later, Pakistan struck across the border.

Pakistani security officials confirmed to The Associated Press that there were strikes on two districts in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province.

The targets were hideouts of the militant Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. One said the operation was a direct response to the suicide bombing of a security forces compound in Mir Ali, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province a day earlier.

The Pakistani Air Force raids killed dozens of armed fighters and there were no civilian deaths, they said.

But Afghan officials said the aerial assaults killed at least 10 civilians, including women, children and local cricketers. The attacks prompted the national cricket board to boycott an upcoming series in Pakistan.

On Saturday, several thousand people attended funeral prayers in Paktika. They sat in the open air as loudspeakers broadcast sermons and condemnation.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, in a statement, criticised the “repeated crimes of Pakistani forces and the violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.” Such acts were deemed provocative and viewed as “deliberate attempts” to prolong the conflict, he added.

The two countries share a 2,611-kilometre border known as the Durand Line, but Afghanistan has never recognised it.

Pakistan is grappling with surging militancy, especially in areas bordering Afghanistan. It also accuses its nuclear-armed neighbour and rival India of backing armed groups, without providing any evidence.

Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, urged Afghans to choose “mutual security over perpetual violence and progress over hardline obscurantism.” “The Taliban must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan,” he told an audience on Saturday at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.