The temporary ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been extended, a senior diplomatic source confirmed to Dawn.com on Friday.
A Pakistani delegation has 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.
On the night of August 11, Afghanistan launched an unprovoked attack on Pakistani border posts, triggering a series of skirmishes that carried on until Wednesday, leaving 23 troops martyred and over 200 Taliban fighters dead.
The Pakistan armed forces conducted “precision strikes” in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and the capital Kabul. A temporary ceasefire was agreed at Afghanistan’s request for 48 hours, which expired at 6pm today.
According to the diplomatic source, the ceasefire period has been extended until the end of talks in the Qatari capital Doha.
“The temporary ceasefire was extended at the request of the Afghan Taliban government,” the source said. “High-level talks are expected to begin on Saturday.”
Islamabad Kabul working to resolve ‘complex but solvable’ issue
Earlier today, the Foreign Office (FO) stated that Pakistan and Afghanistan are sincerely working towards resolving the “complex but solvable” issue of border clashes amid a temporary ceasefire.
During a weekly press briefing at the FO, spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan highlighted that during the 48-hour ceasefire, both sides were making “sincere efforts to find a positive resolution to this complex but solvable issue through constructive dialogue”.
“Pakistan greatly values dialogue and diplomacy and a mutually beneficial relationship with Afghanistan,” he said. “At the same time, the Government of Pakistan continues to closely monitor the situation and would take all possible measures to safeguard its territory and the lives of its people.”
Khan added that Pakistan wants a “peaceful, stable, friendly, inclusive, regionally connected, and prosperous Afghanistan” but highlighted that Kabul needs to fulfil its obligations and promises under the Doha Process. He also reiterated Pakistan’s requests to the Afghan Taliban to prohibit the use of their soil for terrorism.
“Pakistan has repeatedly shared its concerns related to the presence of Fitna al Khawarij and Fitna al Hindustan operating from Afghan soil,” Khan said.
“Pakistan expects concrete and verifiable actions against these terrorist elements by the Taliban regime.”
Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Fitna al Hindustan for Balochistan-based groups to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan.
A day prior, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad was ready to talk if Kabul agreed to fulfil Pakistan’s “justified” conditions following recent hostilities between the two countries.
“Yesterday we decided the temporary 48-hour ceasefire [and] the message has been sent that if they want to fulfil our justified conditions through talks, then we are ready. The ball is in their court,” he said during a cabinet meeting.
Last week, the FO censured Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi for remarks during a visit to India and said “deflecting” the responsibility of controlling terrorism could not absolve the Afghan authorities of their responsibilities towards regional peace.
“Whatever the problems are in each country should be solved by themselves,” he said, seemingly in response to Pakistan’s repeated requests to prevent terrorists from operating in Afghan territory. He added that there was no terrorist organisation or group left in Afghanistan.
The FO responded by saying terrorism was not an internal problem and highlighted the presence of Fitna al Khawarij and Fitna al Hindustan in Afghan territory.
The border clashes come against the backdrop of Pakistan suffering multiple casualties among security forces in intelligence-based operations against terrorists, while Afghanistan accused the former of violating its sovereignty.
While Kabul maintains that it does not provide safe havens to terrorists, Afghan officials blamed Pakistan on Friday for bombing a civilian market in the Paktika airspace near the Durand Line and also violating the territory of the capital Kabul. This was after an explosion was reported in Afghanistan last Thursday night.
The FO in Islamabad avoided directly acknowledging the incident in Kabul during a weekly briefing last Friday, instead framing Pakistan’s counter-terrorism actions as legitimate self-defence against militants operating from Afghan soil.
Speaking at a separate news conference in Peshawar, held almost simultaneously with the FO briefing, the Inter-Services Public Relations director general also declined to confirm or deny whether the military had carried out any strikes in Kabul. He nonetheless underscored Pakistan’s right and resolve to defend itself. “Afghanistan is being used as a base of operations for carrying out terrorism in Pakistan. There is also evidence of this,” he said.
