Taliban militants patrol during cross-border clashes between Taliban security forces and Pakistani soldiers at the Afghan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, in October. On Wednesday, a U.N. official stated he is “deeply concerned” by “numerous” reports of ongoing civilian casualties at the Afghan-Pakistan border. File Photo by Qudratullah Razwan/EPA
Pakistan and Taliban-run Afghanistan have signed on to a temporary truce following a series of border clashes and airstrikes.
A 48-hour cease-fire was claimed by both Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban-ruled government that took effect Wednesday.
It arrived after reported airstrikes on the Afghan side in Kandahar and Kabul.
Both sides have claimed a number of casualties, however, they cannot be independently verified.
According to a Taliban spokesperson, Pakistani gunfire killed 12 civilians and wounded 100.
Pakistani officials have long accused the Taliban of permitting its Pakistan wing to operate in Afghan borders in attempts to ultimately spread a strict Islamic extremist way of life.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry confirmed both sides would engage in talks to find a “positive solution to this complex but solvable issue.”
Over the last week, violence as risen since explosions in Afghanistan, which the Taliban blamed on Islamabad.
Afghani military units had been instructed to maintain the cease-fire agreement as “long as no one commits aggression.”
On Sunday, Pakistani military leaders confirmed 23 soldiers were killed and at least 29 others wounded in recent fighting.
They claimed that 200 Taliban-backed Afghan terrorists were killed in retaliatory strikes, and that Pakistani forces allegedly dismantled Afghan terrorist training camps.
Meanwhile, hundreds of civilians have fled Pakistani border villages amid reports of cross-border firing, strikes and drone deployment, The Guardian reported.
On Wednesday, a U.N. official stated that he was “deeply concerned” by the “numerous” reports of civilian casualties in addition to displacement via armed clashes at the Afghan-Pakistan border.
“I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint, protect civilians, and abide by international law,” Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on the Afghan situation on human rights, posted on social media.
