ISLAMABAD/KABUL: Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to extend their 48-hour ceasefire until the conclusion of peace talks in Doha, sources from both sides confirmed on Friday. The truce follows days of intense border clashes that killed dozens and injured hundreds.
According to three Pakistani security officials and one Afghan Taliban source, a Pakistani delegation has already arrived in Doha, while the Afghan delegation is expected on Saturday. The sources, who requested anonymity, said both sides are seeking to de-escalate tensions that erupted along their shared border earlier this week.
Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Ariana News that Kabul has instructed its forces to maintain the ceasefire as long as Pakistan refrains from further attacks. Neither Pakistan’s military and foreign ministry nor Afghanistan’s defence ministry have commented publicly on the extended truce or the Doha talks.
The temporary ceasefire, first announced Wednesday, paused several days of heavy fighting between the two neighbours, who were once close allies. The initial 48-hour truce was due to expire at 1300 GMT on Friday before being extended.
7 Pakistani soldiers killed in border suicide attack Meanwhile, in a separate incident, seven Pakistani soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded in a suicide attack near the Afghanistan border in North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Friday, officials said.
According to five security officials, one militant drove an explosive-laden vehicle into the boundary wall of a military fort, while two others attempted to breach the facility and were shot dead. Six militants were killed in the attack, the office of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.
Pakistan’s army has yet to issue an official comment on the incident.
