Afghan Taliban and Pakistan agree short truce after deadly clashes
Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government said they agreed to a temporary ceasefire following new border clashes and Pakistan launched airstrikes on Kabul and Kandahar.
Both sides claimed the other wanted a 48-hour ceasefire, and Pakistan said it would come into effect from 13:00 BST on Wednesday.
Earlier, a Taliban spokesman said 12 civilians were killed and more than 100 injured in Pakistani gunfire. Both sides claimed that the other had suffered heavy losses. None of the deaths could be independently confirmed.
Violence has flared in Afghanistan since last week’s explosions, which Kabul blamed on Islamabad. The Taliban denies allegations that they are harboring militants targeting Pakistan.
Wednesday began with both sides accusing the other of starting the deadly clashes.
The Pakistani military said its forces killed “15-20 Afghan Taliban” and injured many others in the Spin Boldak border area. Taliban government spokesman said many Pakistani soldiers were killed.
Later in the day, explosions in Kabul and Kandahar increased tensions. Within an hour, Pakistan declared a ceasefire.
“During this period, both sides will make sincere efforts to find a positive solution to this complex but solvable problem through constructive dialogue,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. he said.
A Taliban government spokesman said Afghan forces had been instructed to respect the ceasefire “as long as no one commits aggression.”
Pakistani state media reported that its armed forces carried out air strikes on targets in Kandahar province and Kabul.
There has been no public statement from the Pakistani military, and there has been no official confirmation from the Taliban government, whose spokesman said an oil tanker and a generator had exploded in X, without associating the explosions with clashes with Pakistan.
However, Taliban government sources told the BBC that Kabul had been hit by two airstrikes. Clouds of black smoke were seen rising over the capital and Taliban officials closed some streets.
Kabul’s emergency surgery center said it admitted 40 people after the blasts, five of whom died at the scene.
The two sides are not only fighting for supremacy at the border, they are also trying to convince the public on social media that their side is doing more damage.
Latest The clashes followed intense border clashes over the weekendThe Taliban claimed to have killed 58 members of the Pakistani army, while Islamabad said it had killed 200 “Taliban and affiliated terrorists”. The BBC could not independently verify the death toll given by either side.
Wednesday’s clash shattered several days of fragile peace.
Videos purportedly of the conflict and its aftermath were shared online and in messaging groups; These include images purportedly of those killed and grainy footage from night vision cameras purportedly of destroyed checkpoints. The videos have not been verified by the BBC.
A source from Spin Boldak in Afghanistan told the BBC that the clashes began around 04:00 local time (23:30 GMT on Tuesday). Another resident of Spin Boldak, who lives about a kilometer from the border gate, told the BBC that “very violent clashes continued for almost five hours”.
“I see drones and jets flying over us, some of our relatives are getting injured,” they said.
A doctor at one of the hospitals in Spin Boldak told the BBC he counted “seven bodies brought to hospital and 36 injured”, including men, women and children.
He said the situation was “tense” and more injured people were taken to hospital.
A local Taliban official in Spin Boldak told the BBC that “hundreds of families have been displaced since last night due to intense fighting”. He said they were on “high alert” after several Taliban outposts were attacked by Pakistani jets. He added that the bodies of two Pakistani soldiers were found in their possession.
In a separate overnight clash on Pakistan’s northwestern border, the Pakistani military said it was “suspected” that 25 to 30 Taliban and Pakistani Taliban fighters were killed.
The clashes have prompted calls from other countries, including China and Russia, to reduce tensions, as well as a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that he could step in to broker peace.
On Wednesday, Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, wrote in X that he was “deeply concerned” by reports of civilian casualties and displacement due to the conflict.
“I call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, protect civilians and comply with international law,” he wrote.
Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing the Pakistani Taliban to operate on its territory and fight against the Islamabad government to enforce a strict Islamic-led system of rule.
The Afghan Taliban government has always denied this.
