Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to ceasefire

Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire during talks hosted by Doha, both sides said on Oct 19, after a week of fierce border clashes that were the worst violence between the South Asian neighbours since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

The ceasefire between the South Asian neighbours "has been finalised", Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif posted on social media platform X on Oct 19, saying that both sides would meet again on Oct 25 in Istanbul to discuss "detailed matters". Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the parties had agreed on a complete and meaningful ceasefire.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry, which mediated the Oct 18 talks along with Turkey, said the follow-up meetings were meant "to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner".

Pakistan and Afghanistan are seeking a way forward after the clashes killed dozens and wounded hundreds. The talks were led by Mr Asif and his Afghan counterpart Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, both sides said.

The ground fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani air strikes across their contested 2,600km frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in militants who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying that they operated from havens in Afghanistan.

The Taliban denies giving haven to militants to attack Pakistan, and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering Islamic State-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty. Islamabad denies the accusations.

Militants have been waging a war for years against the Pakistani state in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with their strict brand of Islamic governance.

On Oct 17, a suicide attack near the border killed seven Pakistani soldiers and wounded 13, security officials said.

"The Afghan regime must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan and are using Afghan soil to perpetrate heinous attacks inside Pakistan," the Pakistan Army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, said on Oct 18, as he addressed a graduation ceremony of cadets.

The Taliban spokesman said that at the Doha talks, "it was decided that neither country will take hostile actions against the other, and support will not be provided to groups operating against the government of Pakistan".

Mr Mujahid said Pakistan had conducted air strikes in Afghanistan hours after the ceasefire, which began on Oct 15, was extended on Oct 17 for as long as the Doha talks continued.

He said the attacks targeted civilians, adding that Kabul reserved the right to respond but that Afghan fighters had been directed to refrain from retaliating to respect the negotiating team.

Afghanistan withdrew from the cricket Twenty20 international tri-series in Pakistan in November after the deaths of three local cricketers that the Afghanistan Cricket Board said were due to military strikes in Paktika province.

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X on Oct 18 that Pakistan had struck "verified" camps of Islamist militants along the border areas and rejected the claim that the strikes had targeted civilians.

He said militants had tried to launch multiple attacks inside Pakistan during the ceasefire period. He added that more than 100 militants were killed by Pakistani security forces, the majority of them in strikes against a militant group that had carried out the Oct 17 suicide attack on the military camp.

Reuters could not independently verify the militant death toll given nor any targets.