Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire on Wednesday, the foreign ministry in Islamabad said, after dozens of troops and civilians were killed earlier in a fresh round of border skirmishes.
“The Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban regime — at the Taliban’s request… have decided to implement a temporary ceasefire starting from 6pm (0100 GMT) today for the next 48 hours,” the ministry said.
Taliban government orders its army to respect ceasefire with Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan carried out “precision strikes” in Kabul on Wednesday after dozens of troops and civilians were earlier killed in a fresh round of border skirmishes, according to a Pakistani security source.
“Pakistan carried out precision strikes in Kandahar and Kabul provinces,” the security source told AFP, referring to the southern Afghan province that was the birthplace of the Afghan Taliban as well as the area around the capital.
Earlier on Wednesday night, dozens of troops and civilians were killed in a fresh round of border skirmishes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, officials on both sides of the frontier said, as clashes entered their second week.
Violence between the two neighbors has flared since explosions in Afghanistan last week, including two in the capital Kabul, that were blamed on Pakistan.
More to follow.
