Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to 48-hour ceasefire after clashes on border

Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday agreed to a temporary 48-hour ceasefire after a day of airstrikes and ground fighting along the border between the two countries that left more than a dozen civilians dead, Reuters reported.

The “temporary ceasefire”, which began at 6.30 pm on Wednesday, was requested by Kabul, Reuters quoted a Pakistani foreign minister statement as saying.

However, Afghan Taliban administration spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the ceasefire was due to the “insistence of the Pakistani side”.

Kabul had ordered its forces to observe the truce provided the other side did not commit aggression, Mujahid added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan carried out an airstrike on the Afghan border province of Kandahar and hit the town of Spin Boldak, Reuters quoted officials in both countries as saying.

Pakistani security officials said the airstrike had targeted a brigade of Afghan Taliban troops and claimed that dozens were killed.

Enayatullah Khowarazmi, Afghanistan’s defence ministry spokesperson, said residential areas of Spin Boldak were hit.

Pakistan carried out another airstrike in Kabul, the officials were quoted as saying. It was not clear what the target of the strike was in Kabul.

A surgical centre in Kabul run by non-governmental organisation EMERGENCY said it received 40 people, including five dead, the BBC reported.

Each side accused the other of launching ground attacks.

The Afghan Taliban said more than a dozen of its civilians were killed and 100 wounded as Pakistani forces launched attacks in Spin Boldak, the news agency reported.

Pakistan denied launching those attacks and said four of its civilians were wounded in attacks by “Taliban forces” in the district of Chaman, opposite Spin Boldak across the frontier.

Violence between the two neighbours has flared since explosions in Afghanistan on October 9, which Kabul blamed on Islamabad. Pakistan did not claim responsibility for the explosions.