Taliban and Pakistan agree to ceasefire after days of deadly clashes

Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government have agreed to an “immediate ceasefire” after more than a week of deadly fighting.

The foreign ministry of Qatar, which mediated talks alongside Turkey, said both sides had agreed to establish “mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability”.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said ending “hostile actions” was “important”, while Pakistan’s foreign minister called the agreement the “first step in the right direction”.

Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy casualties during the clashes, the worst fighting since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Islamabad has long accused the Taliban of harbouring armed groups which carry out attacks in Pakistan, which it denies.

Clashes intensified along the 1,600-mile (2,574 km) mountainous border that the two countries share after the Taliban accused Pakistan of carrying out attacks on the Afghan capital Kabul.

Rumours had circulated that the blasts in Kabul were a targeted attack on Noor Wali Mehsud, the leader of Pakistan’s Taliban. In response, the group released an unverified voice note from Mehsud saying he was still alive.

In the days that followed, Afghan troops fired on Pakistani border posts, prompting Pakistan to respond with mortar fire and drone strikes.

At least 17 Afghan civilians have been killed and hundreds more wounded, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said on Thursday.

A temporary truce was declared on Wednesday night as delegations met in Doha, but cross-border strikes continued.

On Friday, the Taliban said Pakistan had carried out an air strike which killed eight, including three local cricket players.

Under the new agreement, the Taliban said it would not “support groups carrying out attacks against the Government of Pakistan”, while both sides agreed to refrain from targeting each other’s security forces, civilians or critical infrastructure.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said the latest ceasefire meant “terrorism from Afghanistan on Pakistan’s soil will be stopped immediately”, with the two sides set to meet in Istanbul for further talks next week.

Pakistan was a major backer of the Taliban after its ouster in 2001 following a US-led invasion.

But relations deteriorated after Islamabad accused the group of providing a safe haven to the Pakistan Taliban, which has launched an armed insurgence against government forces.

The group has carried out at least 600 attacks on Pakistani forces over the past year, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.