Pakistan and Taliban officials held negotiations in Qatar to defuse tensions between the two countries after cross-border militancy killed dozens of people on both sides.
Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to an “immediate ceasefire” after crisis talks in Doha, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Saturday.
The Foreign Ministry statement added that both sides agreed to establish mechanisms to ensure lasting peace on their shared border.
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The peace talks began earlier Saturday and were mediated by Qatar and Turkey.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed the ceasefire agreement, adding that the two sides would meet again in Istanbul on October 25.
“Terrorism on Pakistani soil conducted from Afghanistan will immediately stop. Both neighboring countries will respect each other’s sovereignty,” Asif said on X.
Pakistan, Afghanistan relations dipped to lowest point since 2021
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have accused each other of provoking hostilities that led to several days of fighting last week. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds wounded on both sides.
The neighbors then reached a 48-hour agreement on Wednesday evening after the deadliest week of fighting between the two since Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The truce ended Friday evening with no formal announcement of an extension, though diplomatic efforts to halt hostilities were underway.
At the same time, Afghan officials accused Pakistan’s military of having carried out strikes in an eastern Afghan province just hours after the ceasefire expired.
Edited by: Rana Taha
DW News
