The parties agreed to hold new negotiations in Qatar to establish the terms and framework for lasting peace, putting an end to a week of deadly cross-border clashes that resulted in dozens of deaths.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire following negotiations involving Qatari mediators in Doha, Qatar's Foreign Ministry reported.
This agreement marks the end of a week of cross-border fighting that resulted in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries, representing the deadliest escalation of tensions between the two countries in recent years.
Both sides agreed to establish mechanisms to strengthen lasting peace and stability, as well as to hold follow-up negotiations in the coming days to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire, according to Qatar's statement.
The statement added that Turkish negotiators also contributed to reaching this agreement.
The situation at the border escalated in early October, with each country claiming to be responding to the aggression of the other. Kabul denies harboring militants who carry out attacks in border areas, which is a major concern for Islamabad.
Pakistan has been grappling with a surge in violence in its western border areas since 2021, after the Taliban seized control and returned to power in Afghanistan.
The fighting threatens to further destabilize a region where groups like the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda are attempting to resurge.
On Friday, just hours after a 48-hour ceasefire expired, Pakistan struck at militants belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province.
Local residents dig graves for people killed in a cross-border airstrike by the Pakistani army in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, Saturday, October 18, 2025. Local residents dig graves for people killed in a cross-border airstrike by the Pakistani army in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, Saturday, October 18, 2025. Shafiqullah Mashaal/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved.
Islamabad stated that dozens of armed militants were "neutralized" in at least two areas of the Afghan province as a result of the strikes, with no civilian casualties reported.
Officials added that the strikes were in response to a suicide bomber attack on security forces in Mir Ali in the western Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the day before.
However, Taliban representatives claim that at least 10 civilians were killed in the airstrikes, including women, children, and local cricket players who were participating in a match near the sites of the attacks.
The attacks prompted the national cricket council to boycott upcoming competitions in Pakistan. The global cricket governing body, the International Cricket Council, stated that it was "saddened and shocked by the tragic loss of three young and promising Afghan players."
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government's chief spokesman, previously criticized the "repeated crimes of Pakistani forces and violations of Afghanistan's sovereignty."
Such actions are considered provocative and viewed as "deliberate attempts" to prolong the conflict, he added.
The head of the Pakistani army, Asim Munir, urged Afghans to choose "mutual security over perpetual violence and progress over harsh obscurantism."
"The Taliban must rein in their supporters who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan," he said at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul.
The two countries are separated by a more than 2,600-kilometer border known as the Durand Line, but Afghanistan has never recognized it, viewing it as a historical issue established during British colonial rule, although in practice it is de facto a border.
Kabul rejects this border, claiming it was imposed on them under duress in 1893 and divides Pashtun tribes living in western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan.
Instead, it recognizes the borders of 1947, which dispute significant tracts of Pakistani land and have led to various cross-border skirmishes led by local militant groups over control and territorial disputes for decades.
