A senior Taliban officer claimed on Friday that Pakistan had carried out strikes in Afghanistan’s border region, violating the ceasefire. According to the AFP news agency, the official claimed that Pakistan had bombed three locations in Paktika.
This happened a few hours after a 48-hour ceasefire between the two countries expired. The ceasefire began on Wednesday and came after nearly a week of bloody border clashes that have killed dozens of soldiers and civilians on both sides.
Pakistan-Afghanistan Clash: How It Happened?
Explosions rocked Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Saturday, just as the Taliban’s foreign minister began his official visit to India. After the explosions, the violence escalated dramatically. The Taliban launched an offensive along part of its southern border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to promise a strong response of its own.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 37 people were killed and 425 wounded on the Afghan side of the border and called on both sides to end hostilities permanently.
A temporary truce
A ceasefire was announced on Wednesday and Pakistan indicated it would last until Friday evening – without saying what would happen after that.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that the ball was “in the court” of the Taliban government for the ceasefire to last.
“If within 48 hours they want to resolve the issues and address our real demands, then we are ready for them,” Sharif told his cabinet.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan also said at a press conference that it was necessary to “wait for 48 hours” to “check if the ceasefire is being followed”, without giving further details.
Why are Pakistan and Afghanistan at war?
At the heart of the tension are security issues with Pakistan, which accuses Afghanistan of harboring militant groups led by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – the Pakistani Taliban – on its territory. However, Kabul denies this claim.
