On Thursday, Pakistan and Afghanistan reached an agreement to extend a ceasefire following peace negotiations in Istanbul, which came after the most severe border clashes in years.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry announced that a subsequent round of talks is scheduled to take place in Istanbul next week.
The ministry indicated that both parties are set to reconvene on November 6 to finalize a monitoring mechanism aimed at “ensuring the maintenance of peace and imposing penalties on the violating party.”
These peace talks, facilitated by Turkey and Qatar, encountered setbacks earlier this week, with Afghan state media attributing the difficulties to the “unreasonable demands of the Pakistani side.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the conclusion of the talks, stating that Afghanistan is seeking “good relations with Pakistan based on mutual respect and non-interference.”
The Pakistani government has yet to issue a statement regarding the negotiations.
The ceasefire was initially declared on October 19, following a surge of violence that resulted in numerous fatalities after Pakistan conducted airstrikes on Afghan territory targeting Pakistani Taliban militants.
Islamabad has accused Kabul of harboring militant groups that carry out cross-border attacks, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it claims operates from Afghan soil.
Earlier this week, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned, “Any terrorist attack or any suicide bombing inside Pakistan shall give you the bitter taste of such misadventures.”
Kabul has rejected these allegations and condemned the airstrikes as violations of its sovereignty.
On Thursday, Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani remarked that “some (in Pakistan), consciously or unconsciously, are playing with fire and war.”
He emphasized that Afghans “do not want war,” but asserted that for Kabul, “defending the territory is one of the priorities.”
While the ceasefire has largely been maintained, the border between the two nations remains closed, resulting in hundreds of trucks being stranded and disrupting trade along the 2,600-kilometer frontier.
