Source: BBC
Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government say they have agreed a temporary ceasefire after fresh border clashes and reported Pakistani air strikes on Kabul and Kandahar.
Both sides claimed the other requested the 48-hour ceasefire, which Pakistan said took effect from 13:00 GMT on Wednesday.
Earlier a Taliban spokesman said 12 civilians had been killed and more than 100 wounded by Pakistani firing. Both sides claimed the other suffered heavy casualties. None of the deaths could be independently confirmed.
Violence has flared since explosions rocked Afghanistan last week, which Kabul blamed on Islamabad. The Taliban deny claims they are harbouring militants targeting Pakistan.
Wednesday started with each side accusing the other of initiating the deadly clashes.
Pakistan’s military said its forces had killed “15-20 Afghan Taliban” and injured many in Spin Boldak border district. The Taliban government spokesman said numerous Pakistani soldiers had been killed.
Then, later in the day, explosions in Kabul and Kandahar ratcheted up tensions. Within an hour, Pakistan announced the ceasefire.
“During this period, both sides will make sincere efforts to find a positive solution to this complex but solvable issue through constructive dialogue,” its Foreign Office said.
The Taliban government spokesman said Afghan forces had been instructed to respect the ceasefire “as long as no one commits aggression”.
Pakistani state media reported its armed forces had carried out air strikes on targets in Kandahar province and Kabul.
There has been no public acknowledgement from the Pakistani military and no official confirmation from the Taliban government, whose spokesman posted on X that an oil tanker and a generator had exploded, without linking the blasts to fighting with Pakistan.
Taliban government sources, however, told the BBC Kabul had been hit by two air strikes. Plumes of black smoke were seen rising above the capital and the Taliban authorities sealed off some streets.
Kabul’s emergency’s surgical centre said it had received 40 people after the explosions — five were dead on arrival.
