KARACHI: Pakistan on Friday rejected Afghan Taliban claims it had violated a temporary Eid ceasefire along their shared border, calling the allegations “absolutely false” and warning that any cross-border attack would trigger an immediate resumption of military operations.
Pakistan and Afghanistan said they were pausing their military operations against each other on Wednesday for the Islamic festival of Eid-al-Fitr, a surprise move two days after a drug rehab center in Kabul was hit in the deadliest strike in months.
The Afghan Taliban government has said that more than 400 people were killed and 265 wounded in the airstrike that took place on Monday night, just as people and staff at the center were praying.
The current standoff comes amid one of the worst phases of fighting between the two sides in years, with both countries exchanging air and drone strikes and engaging in cross-border firing along their 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier since last month.
On Thursday, Afghanistan’s Taliban-led defense ministry accused Pakistani forces of breaching the Eid pause and said civilians had been killed in attacks in border areas, according to statements circulated on social media.
“The claim of so called Ministry of Defense / spokesperson of Taliban regime that Pakistan has violated the temporary pause, initiated itself by Pakistan in view of Eid ul Fitr, is frivolous,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement on X.
“No violation of the temporary pause has taken place along western border by Pakistan and all such claims are absolutely false.”
The exchange follows weeks of escalating tensions between the two neighbors, including cross-border strikes and a sharp deterioration in ties after Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul says killed civilians. Islamabad has denied targeting non-military sites, saying its operations were aimed at militant infrastructure.
Islamabad had announced the temporary pause in hostilities for Eid while maintaining its long-standing position that Kabul must act against militant groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it accuses of launching attacks from Afghan territory. The Afghan Taliban deny providing such safe havens.
“Such propaganda may probably be initiated by detractors within Taliban regime, aimed at creating false pretext for some Afghan Taliban regime directed terrorism or other action,” the Pakistani statement said about claims Islamabad had breached the Eid ceasefire.
Pakistan warned that the continuation of the pause depends on the absence of hostile actions.
“Irrespective of who has initiated the propaganda and false claims, it must be noted that Pakistan has already declared it clearly that any act of terrorism, cross border attack, drone attack etc by Afghan Taliban regime and its proxies will result into forthwith termination of the temporary pause and immediate resumption of Operation Ghazb Lil Haq [military operation] with renewed intensity,” the statement added.
Despite calls from regional powers including China, Turkiye and Gulf states for restraint, no formal negotiations have taken place between Islamabad and Kabul during the current crisis.
A similar round of clashes last year ended in a ceasefire mediated by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, but analysts say the absence of dialogue this time makes the situation more volatile.
