ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban regime have mutually agreed — on the Taliban’s request — to implement a temporary ceasefire for 48 hours starting at 6 pm today, the Foreign Office said on Wednesday.
During this period, both sides will make sincere efforts through constructive dialogue to find a positive resolution to the complex but solvable issue, the ministry added.
Earlier, Pakistani security forces foiled coordinated attacks by Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij in the border district of Chaman’s Spin Boldak area in Balochistan and on posts in Kurram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing around 50 attackers.
Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said Afghan Taliban militants launched cowardly attacks at four separate locations in Spin Boldak on October 15. Pakistani security forces responded with effective and forceful counterfire, killing 15 to 20 Taliban fighters and wounding several others.
The statement said the attackers used routes that passed through populated villages, showing no regard for civilian safety.
The ISPR said that the Taliban also destroyed the Pakistan–Afghan Friendship Gate on their side — an act the military described as reflecting the attackers’ disregard for cross-border trade and tribal norms.
In Kurram, ISPR said the militants tried to overrun Pakistani border posts on the nights of 14–15 October but were repulsed. The counter-operations inflicted heavy damage on enemy positions; ISPR reported destruction of eight militant posts and six tanks, and said some 25 to 30 terrorists were killed there.