ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif announced on Sunday that Islamabad had reached a ceasefire agreement with Kabul in Doha, after days of fierce clashes between the two sides left dozens dead and increased tensions between the neighbors.
Asif was leading a Pakistani delegation in Doha on Saturday for talks with Afghanistan after days of fierce battles between the two countries along their long and porous border, which led to the deaths of dozens of people on both sides. Pakistan also carried out airstrikes in Kandahar and Kabul before the two sides reached an uneasy truce that opened the window for bilateral talks arranged by Qatar.
Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of sheltering militant groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and facilitating their attacks against its civilians and security forces. Kabul denies the allegation, though it has become a key sticking point between the two countries and has led more serious skirmishes than ever before.
“A ceasefire agreement has been reached between Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Asif wrote on social media platform X on Sunday.
“The series of terrorist activities from Afghanistan on Pakistani soil will cease immediately. Both neighboring countries will respect each other’s territory — Alhamdulillah.”
The minister said delegations from Afghanistan and Pakistan will meet again in Istanbul on Oct. 25 in which detailed discussions will take place. Asif thanked Qatar and Turkiye for their mediation efforts.
The development was also confirmed by Qatar’s foreign ministry in a statement, which said both Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to an “immediate ceasefire” after the Doha talks on Saturday.
“During the negotiations, the two sides agreed to an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries,” it said.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the two sides had reaffirmed their commitment to peace, mutual respect and maintaining strong neighborly relations. He said both sides are committed to resolving their disputes through dialogue.
“It has been decided that neither country will undertake any hostile actions against the other, nor will they support groups carrying out attacks against the Government of Pakistan,” Mujahid wrote on X.
He said both nations will refrain from targeting each other’s security forces, civilians or critical infrastructure.
Tensions rose sharply on Friday when a militant attack on a Pakistani security compound in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan killed at least seven soldiers. The attack elicited airstrikes from the authorities in Islamabad in an Afghan border town against the Hafiz Gul Bahadar group.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board told AFP that three players who were in the region for a tournament were killed by the airstrikes, revising down an earlier toll of eight.
Afghanistan withdrew from the Twenty20 international tri-series in Pakistan next month in response, following which the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Zimbabwe would take part in the series in its place.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday Pakistan had carried out “precision strikes” in which about 70 militants had been killed.
“All speculations and assertions being made regarding targeting of civilians are false and meant to generate support for terrorist groups operating from inside Afghanistan,” he added.
