Pakistan, Afghanistan extend ceasefire as Doha talks set to begin, says report

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on Friday to extend their 48-hour ceasefire until the conclusion of talks in Doha, according to three Pakistani security officials and one Afghan Taliban source.

A Pakistani delegation had already arrived in Doha while an Afghan delegation was expected to reach on Saturday, said the sources, who did not want to be namedKabul has instructed its forces to maintain a ceasefire as long as Pakistan refrained from any attack, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Ariana News, a local television news channel.A temporary ceasefire between the South Asian neighbours on Wednesday paused days of fierce fighting that killed dozens and wounded hundreds.

Pakistan’s military and foreign ministry and the Afghan defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the ceasefire and the talks in Doha. Once allies, Islamabad and Kabul engaged in fierce ground fighting, before they reached a 48-hour ceasefire that ended at 1300 hours GMT on Friday.7 Pak soldiers killed in attackSeven Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near the Afghanistan border on Friday, Pakistani security officials said. The soldiers came under attack in a Pakistani military camp in North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and 13 were also wounded, five security officials said. While one militant rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the boundary wall of a fort that served as a military camp, two others tried to get into the facility and were shot dead, they said.Six militants were killed in the suicide attack, office of Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement. Pakistan’s army is yet to comment.