Qatar Announces Fresh Truce Between Pakistan And Afghanistan

The Qatari government has announced that Afghanistan and Pakistan have reached a ceasefire agreement and put an end to several days of hostility between the two neighbouring countries.

This comes on the back of Pakistani airstrikes that killed at least 10 people, breaking an earlier truce. But the two countries have reached a fresh truce after talks held in Qatar.

"During the negotiations, the two sides agreed to an immediate ceasefire and establishment of mechanisms to ensure lasting peace and stability between the two countries," Qatar's foreign ministry confirmed in a recent statement.

The violence erupted on Oct. 11, shortly after explosions in Kabul in the wake of Taliban foreign minister Amit Muttaqi's rare visit to India. In retaliation, Taliban forces launched attacks along the southern border of Pakistan, which sparked days of hostility between the two sides.

Afghanistan and Pakistan had earlier reached a 48-hour truce, which Kabul accused Islamabad of breaching and resuming strikes that killed many civilians from both countries.

Pakistani officials argued that the strikes in the Afghan border areas were targeted at a militant group linked to the Pakistani taliban and came in response to an attack on the Pakistani paramilitary forces.

Following the latest escalation, parties from both Pakistan and Afghanistan held peace talks in Doha, brokered by the Qatari government. This resulted in a fresh agreement over a ceasefire.

The tensions with Afghanistan marks the second time Pakistan has been involved in a conflict this year and come in the wake of a fully-fledged war with India earlier in the year.

The conflict with India ended not too long after the Indian army successfully conducted 'Operation Sindoor' - a group of calculated attacks on Pakistani terrorist groups.