Afghanistan and Pakistan Agree to Temporary Ceasefire After Intense Border Clashes

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A 48-hour ceasefire between Afghanistan and Pakistan took hold late Wednesday, officials on both sides said, after dozens of troops and civilians were killed in fresh cross-border skirmishes earlier in the day.

The truce began at 6pm Islamabad time (Thursday 12am AEDT), shortly after being announced by both countries, each asserting the other had requested it to end the surge in violence.

According to Pakistan, the ceasefire was expected to last 48 hours.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed hope for a peaceful resolution, stating that both nations are committed to engaging in constructive dialogue to address this complex issue. The Ministry emphasized the need for sincerity from both sides to achieve a positive outcome.

In Kabul, Afghanistan’s Taliban government said it had ordered the Afghan army to respect the truce, “unless it is violated” by the opposing side, a spokesman said on X.

The temporary ceasefire followed a week of violence between the two neighbours.

The Taliban had launched an offensive along parts of its southern border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response of its own.

Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups led by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil, a claim Kabul denies.

Amidst escalating tensions, the Afghan capital of Kabul was shrouded in black smoke on Wednesday evening following two explosions, as reported by AFP journalists. The blasts added to the already heightened state of alert in the region.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said an oil tanker and a generator had exploded, sparking fires, although he did not explicitly link the blasts to the clashes with Pakistan.

At least five people were killed and 35 wounded in Wednesday explosions in Kabul, an Italian NGO which runs a hospital in the Afghan capital said, before the truce entered into effect.

“We started receiving ambulances filled with wounded people, and we learned that there had been explosions a few kilometres away from our hospital,” Dejan Panic, EMERGENCY’s country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

In the aftermath of the explosions, ambulances rushed through the streets of Kabul, navigating past shattered glass from damaged buildings. The Taliban forces were seen cordoning off certain areas of the city as part of their response to the incidents.

Meanwhile, reports emerged of approximately 30 additional casualties resulting from overnight clashes along Pakistan’s northwest border. The situation continues to be volatile, with significant loss of life being reported.

Pakistan’s military earlier accused the Afghan Taliban of attacking two major border posts in the southwest and northwest.

It said both assaults were repelled, with about 20 Taliban fighters killed in attacks launched early Wednesday near Spin Boldak on the Afghan side of the frontier in southern Kandahar province.

“Unfortunately the attack was orchestrated through divided villages in the area, with no regard for the civil population,” the military said in a statement.

The human cost of the conflict was starkly illustrated at the funeral of Pakistani soldier Faisal Khan, who lost his life in intense fighting with Taliban security forces at the Pak-Afghan border in Chaman. His children attended the solemn ceremony in Kohat, Pakistan, a poignant reminder of the personal tragedies unfolding amid the ongoing hostilities.

Children of Pakistani soldier killed in clashes with Afghan Taliban security forces at their father's funeral

Children of Pakistani soldier Faisal Khan, who was killed in fierce fighting with Taliban security forces at Pak-Afghan border in Chaman, attend his funeral in Kohat, Pakistan. Source: AAP / Basit Gilani

The Afghan Taliban said 15 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in the clashes near Spin Boldak and that “two to three” of its fighters were also killed.

Taliban spokesman Mujahid said in an earlier statement that 100 civilians were also wounded around Spin Boldak, adding that calm had returned after Pakistani soldiers were killed and weapons seized.

Pakistan’s military said these were “outrageous and blatant lies”.

Pakistan did not give a toll for its losses in the latest clashes but said last week 23 of its troops had been killed in the opening skirmishes.

In a separate incident, a senior security official in Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest said seven frontier troops died in an attack on a checkpoint.

The relatively new Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen armed group claimed responsibility.

The Taliban government said it had launched the offensive in “retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul”.

Islamabad then vowed a forceful response Sunday, and dozens of casualties were reported on both sides.

In Khost province, Afghan journalist Abdul Ghafoor Abid with state-run television RTA was killed Sunday by Pakistani fire while covering the cross-border fighting, a Taliban official said.