Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire during talks in the Qatari capital Doha. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported this on Sunday morning local time on X. The neighboring countries are thus extending an earlier truce that followed a week of intense border fighting. The previous ceasefire, which came into effect on Wednesday, expired on Friday after days of fighting between the two countries.
Both countries also agreed to hold follow-up meetings in the coming days “to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and to monitor its implementation in a reliable and lasting manner.” Earlier on Saturday, both sides had confirmed that peace talks were taking place in Doha.
There has been unrest at the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan for days. Earlier this week, Pakistan claimed to have killed “dozens of Afghan security forces and militants,” the AP reports. Last Sunday, the Pakistani army reported another two hundred Afghan deaths. The Taliban then said it had killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.
Relations with Pakistan have been under strain since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Since then, the number of attacks by Afghan militant groups in Pakistan has increased.
The fighting along the border came after Islamabad demanded Kabul take action against militants carrying out attacks on Pakistan from Afghanistan. The Taliban denies harboring militants attacking Pakistan. The movement also accuses the Pakistani military of spreading false information about Afghanistan and nurturing militants with links to Islamic State to undermine Afghanistan’s stability and sovereignty. Islamabad denies those allegations.
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