Pakistan has launched air attacks inside Afghanistan, killing at least 10 people and breaking a ceasefire that had brought two days of relative calm to the border after an intensive period of bloodshed, Afghan officials say.
The 48-hour truce paused nearly a week of bloody border clashes that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians on both sides.
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“Pakistan has broken the ceasefire and bombed three locations in Paktika” province late on Friday, a senior Taliban official told the AFP news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Afghanistan will retaliate.”
Ten civilians were killed and 12 others were wounded in the attacks, a provincial hospital official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that two children were among the dead.
In a statement released after the attacks, an Afghan government spokesperson said officials from both countries will hold crisis talks in Doha on Saturday.
“As promised, negotiations with the Pakistani side will take place today in Doha,” Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
A high-level Afghan delegation, led by the Minister of Defence Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, has left for Doha, he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistani state TV reported thatDefence Minister Khawaja Asif and intelligence chief General Asim Malik will be heading to Doha on Saturday for talks with the Afghan Taliban.
Earlier on Saturday, the Afghanistan Cricket Board said in a statement that three players who were in the region for a tournament were killed in the latest air strikes alongside five other people “in a cowardly attack carried out by the Pakistani regime” and said seven others were injured.
The ACB said in a post on social media on Saturday that the cricketers were “targeted during a gathering” in Urgun district when they returned home after playing a friendly cricket match in Sharana, the capital of Paktika province.
“The ACB considers this a great loss for Afghanistan’s sports community, its athletes, and the cricketing family,” the ACB said.
It also said it was withdrawing from the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I Series involving Pakistan, scheduled for next month.
In Pakistan, a senior security official told AFP that forces had “conducted precision aerial strikes” in Afghan border areas targeting the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, a local faction linked to the Pakistan Taliban (TTP).
Islamabad said the same group had been involved in a suicide bombing and gun attack at a military camp in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas district that borders Afghanistan, killing seven Pakistani paramilitary troops.
Security issues are at the heart of the tensions, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harbouring armed groups led by the Pakistan Taliban, known by its acronym TTP, on its soil, a claim Kabul denies.
The cross-border violence had escalated dramatically since last Saturday, days after explosions rocked the Afghan capital, Kabul, just as the Taliban’s foreign minister began an unprecedented visit to India, Pakistan’s longtime rival.
The Taliban then launched an offensive along parts of its southern border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to say it would launch a strong response of its own.
When the truce began at 13:00 GMT on Wednesday, Islamabad said it was to last 48 hours, but Kabul said the ceasefire would remain in effect until Pakistan violated it.
Before the latest strikes, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 37 people were killed and 425 wounded on the Afghan side of the border, calling on both sides to bring a lasting end to hostilities.
In Spin Boldak, the scene of intense fighting, hundreds of people attended funerals on Thursday, including for children whose bodies were wrapped in white shrouds.
“People have mixed feelings,” Nematullah, 42, told AFP. “They fear that the fighting will resume, but they still leave their homes and go about their business.”
But earlier on Friday, residents described scenes of normalcy.
“Everything is fine, everything is open,” Nani, 35, told AFP.
“I’m not afraid, but everyone sees things differently. Some say they’re going to send their children elsewhere as the situation isn’t good, but I don’t think anything will happen,” said Nani, who did not give a surname.
