Pakistan–Afghanistan ceasefire deal reached in Doha, Qatar announces

• Ceasefire expected to provide strong basis for lasting regional peace.
• Islamabad, Kabul agree to hold further meetings in coming days.
• Plan to establish permanent mechanism to ensure peace, stability.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry has announced that Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached a landmark ceasefire agreement, marking a potential breakthrough in efforts to restore peace and stability along their troubled border.

According to the Qatari foreign ministry, the ceasefire agreement is expected to lay a strong foundation for lasting peace in the region.

Both countries have also agreed to hold further meetings in the coming days and to establish a permanent mechanism to ensure peace and stability between them.

Confirming the agreement, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif expressed hope that the ceasefire would end border tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Emphasising that both countries have agreed to respect each other’s territorial sovereignty, Asif said the two delegations will meet again in Istanbul on October 25.

Pakistan and Afghanistan held the first round of talks mediated by Qatar in Doha, diplomatic sources told Geo News on Saturday.

They said the next round of Pak-Afghan talks — focusing on cross-border infiltration by militant groups based in Afghanistan — will be held in Doha tomorrow morning. 

The insiders told Geo News that Defence Minister Khawaja Asif led the Pakistani delegation, while his Afghan counterpart Mullah Yaqoob spearheaded the country’s delegation.

Furthermore, sources said senior security officials accompanied the defence minister to support the negotiations. Meanwhile, the Afghan intelligence chief is also part of the Afghan delegation.

Pakistan told the Afghan delegation that the presence of militant groups in Afghanistan was “unacceptable”, sources added.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed a high-level delegation led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was in Doha to hold talks with representatives of the Afghan Taliban.

The foreign ministry said that the talks will primarily focus on “immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism against Pakistan emanating from Afghanistan” and on restoring “peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border.”

‘Heightened tensions’

The two neighbouring nations are witnessing heightened tensions amid the Afghan Taliban regime’s reluctance to act against terrorist groups, operating from Afghan soil, in the backdrop of rising terror attacks in Pakistan.

The Taliban forces and India-backed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), alias Fitna al-Khawarij, resorted to an unprovoked attack on Pakistan on October 12.

The Pakistan Armed Forces gave a befitting response to the aggression, killing over 200 Afghan Taliban and affiliated militants in a self-defence action. The military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said that 23 soldiers embraced martyrdom in the clashes with the Taliban forces and the terrorists.

Furthermore, the security forces also conducted “precision strikes” in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and the capital Kabul, successfully destroying multiple strongholds in response to recent aggression.

After the ceasefire, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan is ready to hold talks with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan on reasonable terms.

The country has witnessed a surge in cross-border terror incidents since Taliban rulers returned to Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan.

The two countries share a porous border spanning around 2,500 kilometres with several crossing points, which hold significance as a key element of regional trade and relations between the people across both sides of the fence.

However, the issue of terrorism remains a key issue for Pakistan, which has urged Afghanistan to prevent its soil from being used by groups such as the banned TTP to carry out attacks inside the former’s territory.