ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it welcomed an announcement by Afghanistan’s Taliban militants that they will observe a three-day ceasefire for the Muslim religious holiday of Eid Al-Adha, starting Friday.
The ceasefire offers respite from weeks of increasing violence in Afghanistan where disagreements over a prisoner exchange and the violence have delayed peace talks between an Afghan government-mandated committee and the Taliban, as envisaged in an agreement signed between the United States and the militant group in Doha in February.
“Pakistan welcomes three-day ceasefire announced by the Taliban on the occasion of the Eid-Al-Adha throughout Afghanistan,” the foreign office said in a statement, adding that it also welcomed a “reciprocal announcement” by the government of Afghanistan.
“We believe this is a positive development towards advancing the goal of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and hope that further steps will be taken to implement the U.S.-Taliban Peace Agreement leading to Intra-Afghan negotiations,” the statement said.
On Wednesday US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad also hailed the Taliban and Afghan government’s decision to observe a truce.
“In order for our people to spend the three days of Eid in confidence and happiness, all fighters are instructed not to carry out any operations,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had tweeted on Tuesday.
However, he added that if Taliban fighters come under attack from government forces, they will retaliate.
Pakistan welcomes three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan for Eid Al-Adha
https://arab.news/zvq9v
Pakistan welcomes three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan for Eid Al-Adha
- Foreign office calls ceasefire a “positive development” by Taliban and Afghanistan in implementing peace agreement
- Taliban instruct fighters not to carry out operations over Eid but say will retaliate if attacked
Four people, including two policemen, killed in twin blasts in northwest Pakistan
- Attack on police van in South Waziristan and motorbike-mounted IED in Lakki Marwat hits KP province
- Violence comes amid a surge in militancy and cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: At least four people, including two policemen, were killed and about 20 others wounded in two separate blasts in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, officials said, the latest violence in a region grappling with militant violence.
One explosion targeted a police patrol van in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan district near the Afghan border, while another blast caused by explosives mounted on a motorbike struck a market area in Lakki Marwat district, according to police officials and preliminary reports.
The incidents come amid rising militant violence in Pakistan’s northwest, where authorities say armed groups operate from across the border in Afghanistan, straining relations between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul, with both sides engaged in a military conflict since last month.
“The control room received information in the evening about a bomb blast targeting a police van in Wana Bazaar,” a police official in the area, who did not want to be named, confirmed while speaking to Arab News over the phone.
He confirmed two deaths in the incident while saying more than 25 people had been injured.
The official said rescue teams responded promptly and shifted three seriously injured people to a nearby hospital in Wana.
In another incident during the day in Lakki Marwat, an improvised explosive device attached to a motorbike exploded near shops.
“Two people have been killed and about 10 have been injured in an IED blast in Lakki Marwat,” Raza Khan, Deputy Superintendent of Police in Bannu, told Arab News.
“The deceased are identified as Shoaib Ur Rehman and Furqan Ullah,” he added. “Shoaib, the owner of the shop, was the brother of the Lakki peace committee head.”
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attacks and expressed grief over the incidents.
“I strongly condemn the blast near a police patrolling vehicle in Wana Bazaar,” Naqvi said in a statement, confirming the killing of four people, including two police personnel.
“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police are on the front line in the war against terrorism,” he said, noting the force had made “unforgettable sacrifices” in the fight against militant groups.
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan’s border regions in recent months, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban government of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory — a charge Kabul denies — as cross-border tensions between the two neighbors have escalated.
