Fighting resumes between Pakistan, Afghanistan after temporary ceasefire ends, killing two

Renewed fighting broke out along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday after a temporary ceasefire ended, killing at least two civilians and wounding others in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan Taliban officials said.

The brief ceasefire was announced by the two sides ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr. Ziaur Rahman Speenghar, director of the information and culture department in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, said that after the ceasefire ended, Pakistani forces fired dozens of artillery shells in Narai and Sarkano areas, killing two civilians and wounding eight others.

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He said Afghan border forces returned fire, claiming they destroyed three Pakistani military posts and killed one person. His claims could not be independently verified. There has been no comment yet from the Pakistani army. But a local Pakistani official in the northwest accused Afghan forces of exchanging fire in several areas.

The latest violence comes nearly a week after both sides agreed to cease hostilities following Pakistani air strikes on Afghanistan at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. The pause follows Pakistani attacks that the Afghan Taliban government said hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, killing more than 400 people. This charge could not be independently verified.

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Pakistan has denied targeting civilians, saying it hit an ammunition depot. Separately, the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said it had resumed attacks inside Pakistan after observing a three-day Eid ceasefire.

The TTP, separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban, has stepped up attacks inside Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban came to power in 2021. TTP has been defined as a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring TTP leaders and thousands of their members who carry out cross-border attacks.

Kabul denies the charge, but Pakistan has vowed to continue targeting the TTP and its supporters in Afghanistan until the Taliban government gives assurances that it will not allow the TTP and other militants to use Afghan territory for attacks.