Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to extend ceasefire ahead of Doha talks: Report

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to extend their 48-hour ceasefire until the conclusion of planned peace talks in Doha, officials confirmed on Friday.

A Pakistani delegation has already arrived in the Qatari capital, while the Afghan delegation is expected to reach Doha on Saturday, according to three Pakistani security officials and one Afghan Taliban source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The temporary truce, first established on Wednesday, had paused several days of intense fighting along the border that left dozens dead and hundreds injured. The extension aims to provide a stable environment for diplomatic engagement and reduce civilian casualties as both sides prepare for negotiations.

Earlier today, as the 48-hour truce between Pakistan and Afghanistan inches closer to the end, the country’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said that he is ready to hold talks with the Taliban. The Pakistani premier maintained that he is willing to have a peaceful resolution of the conflict on reasonable terms, and the “ball is now in Afghanistan’s court”.

The remarks from Sharif came during his address at the federal cabinet meeting on Thursday, Geo News reported. Sharif made it clear that it is for the Taliban to decide if they want a permanent ceasefire. However, during the meeting, Sharif repeated his minister Khwaja Asif’s rhetoric, claiming that the Taliban regime carried out the recent attack on Pakistan at India’s behest.

He pointed out that the attack came when Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was on a visit to India, without delivering any evidence of the accusation. Interestingly, the fight between the two nations escalated when Pakistan conducted two strikes in Kabul, prompting the Taliban to take what they called ‘retaliatory measures’.

With inputs from agencies