Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to temporary truce
Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a "temporary ceasefire" on Wednesday, Islamabad announced, after an airstrike and ground clashes along their volatile frontier left more than a dozen civilians dead and sent tensions soaring.
The fresh fighting shattered a fragile calm following weekend clashes that killed dozens, marking the worst violence between the two neighbours since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. In a statement, Pakistan's foreign ministry said the two sides had agreed to implement a 48-hour ceasefire from 13:00 GMT on Wednesday.
"During this period, both sides will make sincere efforts, through constructive dialogue, to find a positive solution to this complex yet resolvable issue," the statement read, adding that the truce was reached at the request of the Afghan Taliban government.
Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, however, claimed the ceasefire was the result of "the request and insistence of the Pakistani side".
He said Kabul had directed all its forces to observe the truce, provided the other side refrained from aggression.
The latest flare-up comes after Islamabad accused the Taliban administration of harbouring militants who have stepped up attacks inside Pakistan, allegedly operating from Afghan soil.
The Taliban rejected the allegations, accusing Pakistan's military of spreading misinformation, provoking border tensions, and sheltering Islamic State-linked militants to destabilise Afghanistan.
Pakistan's military has denied the charges, pointing instead to deadly attacks inside Pakistan carried out by ISIS-K, the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group active in both countries.
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