Thursday 16 / October / 2025
ISLAMABAD: The Government of Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban regime have mutually agreed to a 48-hour temporary ceasefire, starting from 6:00 PM today, following a request made by the Taliban, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the ceasefire is aimed at creating space for constructive dialogue between both sides in an effort to address a complex but resolvable issue.
What sparked the fighting?
According to the Pakistani military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the "Afghan Taliban resorted to cowardly attacks at four locations in Spin Boldak area of Balochistan."
The ISPR said that fighters from the Afghan Taliban and from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were both involved in the attacks.
It said at least 20 fighters were killed and many wounded on Afghan side.
The ISPR said a similar attack was repulsed in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kurram region overnight, with at least 30 Afghan Taliban and TTP fighters "suspected to have been killed."
Afghanistan's Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in his turn accused Pakistan of launching the attack in Spin Boldak.
He said 12 civilians were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the fighting.
Mujahid said Afghan forces had been "compelled to retaliate" to shelling and gunfire from Pakistani forces, "resulting in the elimination of several Pakistani attackers, the seizure of their outposts and bases, the confiscation of weapons and tanks, and the destruction of significant military infrastructure."
