Pakistan, Afghanistan extend truce until Doha talks conclude

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on Friday to extend their 48-hour ceasefire until the conclusion of talks in Doha, according to three Pakistani security officials and one Afghan Taliban source.

A Pakistani delegation had already arrived in Doha while an Afghan delegation was expected to reach the Qatari capital on Saturday, said the sources, who did not want to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Kabul has instructed its forces to maintain a ceasefire as long as Pakistan refrained from any attack, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Ariana News, a Pashto language local television news channel.

A temporary truce between the South Asian neighbours on Wednesday paused days of fierce fighting that killed dozens and wounded hundreds.

Pakistan’s military and the Afghan defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the ceasefire and the talks in Doha.

In Islamabad, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan told reporters that he was not in a position to share any information about possible talks with Afghanistan, and that the ministry would issue a statement when any such talks happen. He said the ceasefire was still holding, and he refused to speculate whether the truce would be extended.

Ali said Islamabad wanted Kabul to keep anyone from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan and that Pakistan’s recent strikes were only aimed at targeting militant hideouts.

He said Pakistan’s “targeted and precise defensive response was not targeted towards the Afghan civilian population,” and that “unlike Afghan forces, we exercised extreme caution in our defensive responses to avoid loss of civilian lives.”

Once allies, Islamabad and Kabul engaged in fierce ground fighting, and Pakistan also launched airstrikes across their contested frontier before they reached a 48-hour ceasefire that ended at 1300 GMT on Friday.

The latest conflict between the two countries was triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in militants who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.

Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near the Afghanistan border on Friday, Pakistani security officials said.

The soldiers came under attack in a Pakistani military camp in North Waziristan district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and 13 were also wounded, five security officials said.

While one militant rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the boundary wall of a fort that served as a military camp, two others tried to get into the facility and were shot dead, they said.

Six militants were killed in the suicide attack, the office of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said in a statement, without providing details on the number of soldiers killed. Pakistan’s army did not respond to a request for comment.

The identity of the attackers was not known and no group has claimed responsibility.

Shahbaz said on Thursday that Pakistan “retaliated” after losing patience with Afghanistan following a series of militant attacks, but was ready to hold talks to resolve the conflict.

The Taliban denies giving haven to militants to attack Pakistan and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan, provoking border tensions and sheltering ISIS-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty.

Islamabad denies the accusations.

On Friday, the Pakistan Red Crescent said Afghanistan had handed over to it the bodies of seven Pakistanis — two security personnel and five civilians - who were killed during clashes earlier in the week.

Although the Islamic nations have clashed in the past, the fighting this month is their worst in decades. It has drawn the attention of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who have mediated and sought to stop the fighting.

US President Donald Trump has said he can help resolve the conflict.

Earlier on Friday, Afghans in the frontier town of Spin Boldak -- where the fighting had been particularly intense -- described scenes of normalcy.

“Everything is fine, everything is open,” said Nani, 35, told AFP.

Agencies