ISLAMABAD/KABUL (Reuters) -Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday after an air strike and ground fighting ramped up tensions between the South Asian neighbours, leaving more than a dozen civilians dead and 100 wounded.
Wednesday’s fighting along the volatile, contested frontier shattered a fragile peace after dozens were killed in weekend clashes, the worst between the two Islamic countries since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
The recent friction between the former allies erupted after Islamabad demanded that the Afghan Taliban administration acts to rein in militants who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.
The Taliban denies the charge and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan, provoking border tensions, and sheltering ISIS-linked militants to undermine the country’s stability and sovereignty. Pakistan’s military denies the charges.
BOTH SIDES TO AIM DURING CEASEFIRE TO EASE CRISIS
A Pakistani foreign ministry statement said the two countries would implement a “temporary ceasefire” for 48 hours starting 1300 GMT on Wednesday, adding the truce was requested by Kabul.
Afghan Taliban administration spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the ceasefire was due to the “insistence of the Pakistani side.”
Kabul had directed its forces to observe the ceasefire provided the other side does not commit aggression, he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan carried out an air strike on the Afghan border province of Kandahar and hit the town of Spin Boldak, officials in both countries said.
Pakistani security officials said the air strike had targeted a brigade of Afghan Taliban troops and that dozens were killed, without corroborating the claim.
Enayatullah Khowarazmi, Afghanistan’s defence ministry spokesperson, said residential areas of Spin Boldak were hit.
BLAME EXCHANGED OVER LAUNCHING OF GROUND ATTACKS
Each side accused the other of launching ground attacks.
The Afghan Taliban said more than a dozen of its civilians were killed and 100 wounded as Pakistani forces launched attacks in Spin Boldak.
Pakistan denied launching those attacks and said four of its civilians were wounded in attacks by “Taliban forces” in the district of Chaman, opposite Spin Boldak across the frontier.
Separately, fighting between Pakistani troops and militants in Pakistan’s border district of Orakzai killed six paramilitary soldiers and nine militants, two security officials told Reuters.
The neighbours have closed several crossings along their border since the fighting over the weekend, bringing trade to a halt and stranding scores of vehicles laden with goods.
Pakistan is the main source of food and other goods for landlocked, impoverished Afghanistan.
CHINA, RUSSIA, US ALL EXPRESS CONCERN OVER CLASHES
Last week’s clashes drew international concern, with China urging protection for its citizens and investments, Russia calling for restraint, and U.S. President Donald Trump saying he could help end the conflict.
The latest skirmishes coincided with Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s first visit to Pakistan’s arch rival, India, during which New Delhi said it would reopen its Kabul embassy and the Afghan Taliban said it would send its diplomats to India.
(Reporting by Saeed Shah, Asif Shahzad, Mushtaq Ali, Saleem Ahmed and Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Sakshi Dayal and YP Rajesh; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly and Bernadette Baum)
