New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) Afghanistan and Pakistan have finally agreed to a ceasefire following days of deadly cross-border gunfire that has killed, injured, and displaced several civilians at the Durand Line that separates the two countries.

The truce followed a round of negotiations between the two countries in Doha, mediated by Qatar and Turkiye.

This will be followed by subsequent meetings “to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner”, according to an official statement.

“During the negotiations, the two sides agreed to an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries,” said Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Sunday.

Thus, the Doha meeting was the first among many steps that the friends-turned-adversaries will need to take before peace and mutual trust can be restored.

The next review meeting is expected to be held on October 25.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban regime of providing space to Tehreek‑e‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and for coordinated cross‑border attacks on Pakistan. Kabul has been reiterating its denial, in return accusing Pakistan of repeated airspace and territory violations and bombing inside Afghanistan.

Shifting political sands in Islamabad have been driving its government’s viewpoint, with the current regime blaming earlier leaders for the “dirty work” they did for “Western countries” in raising and launching the Mujahedin militia against the then Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan.

And support for the Taliban is being blamed on the previous Imran Khan government, when other Prime Ministers – including incumbent Shehbaz Sharif’s brother, Nawaz Sharif – have been in power through the rise of the Taliban and its subsequent capture of Kabul for the first time (1996-2001).

Reported to have first established itself in the mid-1990s in Afghanistan’s Kandahar, it primarily comprised students from Pakistan’s madrasas. In that phase, it even enjoyed tacit support from Islamabad.

Afghanistan, being a landlocked country, is dependent on transit routes at border points with its neighbours, among which two major passages lie on the Durand Line.

Of the two, the point at Spin Boldak in Kandahar province witnesses a high volume of traffic with Chaman in Pakistan’s Baluchistan, where goods and aid material for Afghanistan come through the Gwadar port.

Another major route is through Torkham, joining Afghanistan’s Jalalabad to Peshawar in Pakistan.

Though Afghan refugees, driven out by Islamabad, were trickling through the border gates, it will take some time for business to return to normal following days of intermittent skirmishes, which snowballed into a major firefight earlier this month.

There was an escalation along several border sectors following Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan soil.

Taliban authorities claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on Pakistani forces, while Pakistan said it had repelled large attacks.

Meanwhile, Afghan media, quoting official sources, reported civilian deaths and dozens wounded in border districts during the fighting and following strikes.

The region has been a witness to several cross‑border exchanges, where the one in April 2022 is considered an early instance of the skirmishes since the Taliban takeover. Early September 2023 saw fierce fighting at the Chitral border in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A wave of attacks and counterattacks took place at multiple frontier areas last year, with Kabul claiming Pakistani strikes inside Afghan territory, to which the Taliban reportedly retaliated. According to Islamabad, there were recurring cross‑border attacks and militant raids followed by Pakistani operations in the latter part of 2024, leading to border closures and diplomatic protests.

–IANS

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