Afghan Police accuse Pakistan of cross-border strikes after ceasefire ends

Pakistan's military carried out strikes in southeastern Afghanistan on Friday, just hours after a two-day ceasefire between the neighbouring countries expired, an Afghan police official said.

The bombings struck southeastern Paktika province and two other areas close to the Pakistan border, and included a strike on a civilian house in Khanadar village that resulted in casualties, police spokesman Mohammadullah Amini Mawia said. He gave no further details, including how the strikes were delivered.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistan about the Afghan claim.

The ceasefire that began on Wednesday had halted several days of fighting that killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds. It ended on Friday evening with no formal announcement of an extension, though diplomatic efforts to halt the hostilities were underway and Qatar reportedly offered to host peace talks.

 

The strikes in southeastern Afghanistan came hours after Pakistani officials said that a suicide car bomber backed by the Pakistani Taliban attacked a compound of security forces near the border, killing several people in the area. The attack in Mir Ali, a city in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also triggered an intense shootout that left at least six militants and one soldier dead, police said.

The Pakistani Taliban, considered a terrorist organisation by Pakistani officials, is separate from Afghanistan's Taliban but affiliated with it, and Pakistani officials accuse it of operating from bases across the border.

A faction of the Pakistani Taliban headed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in Mir Ali, local police official Irfan Ali said.

In Kabul, the Taliban government's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said a Taliban delegation was preparing to leave for Qatar. He said "in general, the policy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is clear and consistent: we do not seek war with Pakistan or with anyone else".

Pakistan's state-run media on Friday night reported that a high-level Pakistani delegation will travel to Qatar for talks with Afghanistan on Saturday. Pakistan TV gave no further details, however.

In Islamabad, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan earlier told reporters that he was not in a position to share any information about possible talks with Afghanistan, and that the ministry would issue a statement when any such talks happen.

Ali said Islamabad wants Kabul to keep anyone from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan and that Pakistan's recent strikes were only aimed at targeting militant hideouts.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since January, mostly blamed on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. It has strained ties between Islamabad and Kabul as Pakistan says the group is being sheltered in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's military has carried out multiple operations against militants in the region this week, killing 102 militants, according to security officials and police in the region.

The recent clashes between the two countries were the deadliest since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan following the collapse of the Western-backed government as US and NATO forces withdrew after 20 years of war.

Tensions have remained high along the border since last week when Kabul accused Islamabad of carrying out a strike in the Afghan capital, a claim Pakistan's government and military have not acknowledged. Pakistani security officials, however, said the strike was aimed at targeting Noor Wali, the head of the Pakistani Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban shared a video on Thursday, claiming Wali is alive and in hiding somewhere in northwestern Pakistan.

The growing tension between the two sides is also expected to hit Afghan refugees illegally residing in Pakistan.

On Friday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was informed that Pakistan had sent back 1.4 million (14 lakh) Afghans under a phased plan that began in 2023, according to a government statement. It cited Sharif as saying that only Afghans with valid Pakistani visas would be allowed to stay in the country.