Afghanistan and Pakistan will meet again in Qatar to define peace terms and a lasting framework. Their decision ends a deadly week of cross-border clashes that claimed dozens of lives. Both countries agreed to an immediate ceasefire after discussions with Qatari mediators in Doha, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry confirmed.
Qatar announced that Turkish negotiators helped finalize the agreement. The two nations will create systems to secure lasting stability and plan more talks in the coming days to sustain the truce.
Regional Tensions and Border Violence
Violence surged this month as both nations blamed each other for aggression. Afghanistan rejected accusations of sheltering militants who attack border zones, a major Pakistani concern. Pakistan has battled growing militancy along its western border since 2021, when the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan.
These clashes risk deeper instability across the region, where groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaeda seek to rebuild their presence. On Friday, hours after a short truce expired, Pakistan launched airstrikes across the border. It targeted Hafiz Gul Bahadur group militants in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province. Islamabad reported the strikes killed many fighters without harming civilians.
Officials said the strikes responded to a suicide bombing at a security compound in Mir Ali, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the previous day. Taliban officials countered that at least 10 civilians, including women, children, and local cricket players, died in the raids.
Political Fallout and Border Disputes
The attacks triggered a boycott by Afghanistan’s cricket board of an upcoming event in Pakistan. The International Cricket Council expressed sorrow over the deaths of three young Afghan players. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned Pakistan’s “repeated crimes” and accused its forces of violating Afghan sovereignty. He called such actions deliberate provocations meant to extend conflict.
Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, urged Afghanistan to pursue “mutual security over perpetual violence and progress over extremism.” He demanded that the Taliban control militant proxies operating from Afghan territory. Munir delivered his message at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul as high-level delegations met in Doha for peace negotiations.
Afghanistan and Pakistan share a 2,600-kilometre border called the Durand Line. Afghanistan refuses to recognise it, calling it a colonial-era boundary imposed in 1893 that divides Pashtun tribes across both sides. Kabul instead recognises the 1947 borders, which claim parts of Pakistan’s territory. This dispute has fuelled decades of skirmishes and militant-led conflicts over control of the frontier.
