Afghanistan and Pakistan reached an agreement on Sunday for a permanent ceasefire, bringing an end to the intense cross-border fighting that had erupted on October 10th. The breakthrough came after marathon negotiations in Doha, Qatar, mediated by Qatari and Turkish officials who had been shuttling between the two sides for several days.
Representing Afghanistan was Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the country’s Defense Minister and son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, while Pakistan’s delegation was led by Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif. The talks, which reportedly lasted around 13 hours, produced what Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid described as a “complete and meaningful ceasefire,” emphasizing mutual commitments to peace, de-escalation, and non-aggression.
The new accord supersedes a temporary 48-hour truce that had been agreed upon on October 15th but quickly collapsed amid renewed artillery exchanges along the border. This latest deal has been welcomed by regional powers including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China and other Arab and Muslim nations.
The fighting began when Afghanistan’s Islamic National Army, launched cross-border assaults on Pakistani military positions, prompting retaliatory airstrikes by Pakistan that targeted Afghan military installations and positions of the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The clashes left over two dozen Pakistani soldiers and more than fifty Afghan troops dead, alongside casualties among Pakistani Taliban fighters.
The initial Afghan attacks were seen as retaliation for an October 9th Pakistani airstrike that hit Kabul and other cities, targeting TTP bases and commanders. Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have remained high since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harboring the TTP and allowing it to stage cross-border raids from sanctuaries inside Afghan territory.
Over the last 4 years, Pakistan has conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan from time to time targeting TTP infrastructure, with the October 9th airstrikes being the first on Kabul itself.