Afghanistan and Pakistan say they may respect ceasefire

[ad_1] ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan and Pakistan, embroiled in preventing that has killed dozens of individuals and injured lots of, pledged on Sunday to respect a ceasefire .

The truce, mediated by Qatar and Turkey, got here into impact instantly and is meant to pause hostilities.

Violence has escalated between the neighbors since earlier this month , with every nation saying they have been responding to aggression from the opposite. Afghanistan denies harboring militants who perform assaults in border areas.

Pakistan is grappling with militancy that has surged since 2021, when the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and returned to power .

The Taliban authorities’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, gave a optimistic response to the end result of the talks that befell within the Qatari capital, Doha, a day earlier. He stated each international locations had signed a bilateral settlement.

“It has been determined that neither nation will undertake any hostile actions towards the opposite, nor will they assist teams finishing up assaults towards Pakistan. Either side will chorus from focusing on one another’s safety forces, civilians or crucial infrastructure.”

A mechanism can be established sooner or later, “below the mediation of middleman international locations,” to evaluate bilateral claims and make sure the efficient implementation of this settlement.

Later, throughout an internet information convention, Protection Minister Muhammad Yaqoob instructed journalists that the Doha talks lasted 13 hours.

Pakistani Protection Minister Khawaja Asif posted affirmation of the deal on X.

“Cross-border terrorism from Afghan territory will stop instantly,” Asif wrote. “Each international locations will respect one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. A follow-up assembly between the delegations is scheduled to happen in Istanbul on October 25 to debate the issues intimately.”

High officers from each international locations thanked Qatar and Turkey for his or her function in facilitating the talks that led to the ceasefire.

The preventing between Afghanistan and Pakistan has severely disrupted individuals’s lives. The 2 international locations share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) lengthy border often known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan has by no means acknowledged. They've simply two principal commerce routes.

Worsening safety has pressured locals to depart their properties and in addition left 1000's of individuals and autos stranded for per week at border factors.

The Chaman crossing in southwest Pakistan is barely open for Afghan refugees to depart as a part of a nationwide crackdown on foreigners dwelling in Pakistan illegally. Entry from Afghanistan, together with commerce and pedestrian motion, stays suspended.

Shafiullah Khan, an Afghan refugee making an attempt to depart Pakistan, had been caught at Chaman for 3 days.

“We're so comfortable for this peace settlement,” stated Khan. “The refugees have been struggling rather a lot, however now, after this settlement, we're comfortable and are going again to our nation.”

Much less comfortable was businessman Hazarat Bilal Umaid, whose commerce is dependent upon an open border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Individuals have been afraid and frightened about methods to save their livelihoods,” he stated. “Now our request to each governments is to open the gate for commerce as quickly as potential.”

The Torkham crossing , which straddles Pakistan’s northwest and Afghanistan’s east, is totally closed.

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Related Press writers Abdul Qahar Afghan in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sajjad Tarakzai in Islamabad and Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

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