Pakistan says it has agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire with Afghanistan following days of bloody cross-border violence.
The announcement got here after Afghanistan’s capital metropolis was rocked by an explosion on Wednesday afternoon.
Nonetheless, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed in a publish on X that an oil tanker had exploded within the metropolis and that “no one should worry”.
Pakistan’s International Ministry mentioned the ceasefire was at Afghanistan’s request and that it could be for 48 hours.
Moments later, the Taliban authorities’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, mentioned the truce was at “the insistence” of the Pakistani facet.
Picture:
Zabihullah Mujahid. Pic: AP
He didn’t point out a 48-hour timeframe. All Afghan forces have been instructed to watch the ceasefire “as long as no one violates it,” Mujahid added.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring armed teams, a cost rejected by the nation’s Taliban rulers.
Pakistan is grappling with militant assaults which have elevated since 2021, when the Taliban seized energy in Afghanistan.
The escalation of tensions is prone to destabilise a area the place teams, together with the Islamic State and al-Qaida, try to determine a foothold and resurface.
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Sky’s Cordelia Lynch’s uncommon interview with the Taliban’s chief spokesman
Earlier than the ceasefire announcement, Pakistan mentioned its troops killed dozens of Afghan safety forces and militants in in a single day preventing.
The clashes had stopped briefly on Sunday following appeals from main regional powers, together with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
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Vehicles loaded with provides line up after Pakistan closed its border crossings with Afghanistan. Pic: Reuters
‘Fierce response’
This had provoked a “strong and fierce response” from the Pakistan Military, which pressured them to flee, abandoning their weapons and autos.
Taliban posts suffered heavy harm – together with the destruction of a tank.
Pakistani forces mentioned they’d repelled “unprovoked” assaults, however denied focusing on civilians after the Taliban authorities mentioned greater than a dozen have been killed and over 100 others wounded when Pakistan focused one other website in a border space of Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province.
Pakistan’s military additionally focused militant hideouts within the Afghan capital, two Pakistani safety officers mentioned.
