Pakistan and Afghanistan Agree to Ceasefire: Ending Deadly Border Clashes Through Qatar-Mediated Talks

Qatar's Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that Afghanistan and Pakistan have reached an agreement for an immediate ceasefire, following over a week of intense fighting that resulted in dozens of fatalities and hundreds of injuries.

Both nations have committed to establishing frameworks for sustainable peace and stability, with additional discussions planned in the upcoming days to ensure the ceasefire remains effective, according to the Qatari statement.

Delegations from both countries met in Doha for negotiations aimed at resolving what has become the most severe crisis between the neighboring nations in recent years. Qatar and Turkey served as mediators during these talks.

The defense ministers from both governments led their respective delegations. Pakistan indicated that the discussions would concentrate on "immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the border."

Each country has accused the other of aggression, with Afghanistan denying allegations that it harbors terrorists who conduct attacks in border regions.

Regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have urged restraint as the violence threatened to further destabilize an area where terrorist organizations like the Islamic State group and al-Qaida are attempting to regain footing.

A previous 48-hour ceasefire expired Friday evening, after which Pakistan conducted strikes across the border.

Pakistani security officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday that airstrikes targeted two districts in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province.

According to these officials, who spoke anonymously due to lack of authorization, the strikes focused on hideouts of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group. One official stated the operation was a direct response to a suicide bombing at a security forces compound in Mir Ali, located in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, that occurred a day earlier.

The Pakistani officials claimed the air raids killed numerous armed fighters with no civilian casualties.

However, Afghan officials reported that the aerial assaults resulted in at least 10 civilian deaths, including women, children, and local cricket players. These attacks led Afghanistan's national cricket board to boycott an upcoming series scheduled in Pakistan.

On Saturday, several thousand people gathered for funeral prayers in Paktika, sitting outdoors as loudspeakers broadcast sermons and expressions of condemnation.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government's chief spokesman, criticized the "repeated crimes of Pakistani forces and the violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty" in a statement.

He described these actions as provocative and "deliberate attempts" to prolong the conflict.

The two countries share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border known as the Durand Line, though Afghanistan has never officially recognized it.

Pakistan continues to struggle with increasing militant activity, particularly in areas along the Afghan border. It also accuses its nuclear-armed neighbor and rival India of supporting armed groups, though without providing evidence.

Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, called on Afghans to choose "mutual security over perpetual violence and progress over hardline obscurantism."

"The Taliban must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan," he stated during an address at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday.