Islamabad (TDI): Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to extend a 48-hour ceasefire until planned talks in Doha conclude. A Pakistani team was said to have arrived in Doha, while an Afghan delegation was expected to travel to the Qatari capital on Saturday, according to Reuters.
However, Pakistan’s security officials later dismissed one report that a Pakistani delegation was already present in Doha as “baseless,” saying the team is scheduled to depart tomorrow morning.
The temporary truce, brokered after days of intense clashes that left dozens dead and hundreds wounded, came when Pakistan accepted a request from Afghanistan to pause fighting. During a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said both sides were engaged in constructive dialogue and working “to find a positive resolution to this complex but solvable issue.”
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have been high amid Islamabad’s accusations that terrorist groups are operating from Afghan soil. Islamabad says the Afghan Taliban regime has been reluctant to act against those groups, contributing to a recent surge in attacks inside Pakistan.
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On October 12, Pakistani authorities say Taliban forces and the India-linked Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) carried out an unprovoked attack, prompting a robust response from Pakistan’s military. The armed forces reported killing more than 200 Taliban and associated militants and said 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred in the clashes. Pakistan also said it carried out precision strikes against militant positions in Kandahar and Kabul, destroying several strongholds.
Following the ceasefire, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan is prepared to negotiate with the Afghan regime on reasonable terms, adding that the initiative now rests with Kabul to secure a permanent halt to hostilities.
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Defense Minister Khawaja Asif sharply criticized the Afghan leadership, accusing it of failing to reciprocate Pakistan’s repeated diplomatic efforts over the past five years and alleging that Kabul has become a conduit for Indian interference. In a post on X, he argued that India, Afghanistan and the TTP were jointly orchestrating terrorism against Pakistan and warned that Pakistan would no longer tolerate the status quo.
