China supports countries in exercising restraint and realising a full and lasting ceasefire, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, when asked about Pakistan and Afghanistan agreeing to a 48-hour ceasefire.
China stands ready to continue to play a constructive role for continued improvement in the two countries’ relations, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, told a regular press briefing.
On Wednesday, the Foreign Office (FO) announced that a temporary ceasefire had been agreed with Afghanistan for the next 48 hours amid recent border hostilities between the two countries.
“A temporary ceasefire has been decided between the Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban regime, with the mutual consent of both parties, for the next 48 hours from 6pm today, at the request of the Taliban.
“During this period, both sides will make sincere efforts to find a positive solution to this complex but solvable issue through constructive dialogue,” the FO said.
Taliban regime spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said on X that Afghan forces were instructed to respect the ceasefire, “unless any aggression takes place”.
Pakistani officials on the northern and southern border with Afghanistan told AFP that “no violence was reported overnight, and the ceasefire remains in effect”.
Separately, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk welcomed the ceasefire and appealed to “both parties to prevent any further harm to civilians & commit to a lasting ceasefire,“ according to AFP.
The announcement came after the Pakistan armed forces conducted “precision strikes” in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and capital Kabul, state media PTV reported.
Earlier in the day, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had said security forces repulsed a separate attack by the Afghan Taliban along the Balochistan border, killing around 15 to 20 of their members.
It said Afghan Taliban “resorted to cowardly attack[s] at four locations in [the] Spin Boldak area” in the early hours of Wednesday. “The attack was effectively repulsed by Pakistani forces,” the statement said.
The fighting was the third major skirmish between Pakistan and Afghanistan within a week, following an incident in Kurram and earlier skirmishes that began on Saturday night and continued into Sunday morning at several locations.
Twenty-three Pakistani troops were martyred and 29 were injured in the incident that began with Afghan Taliban attacking posts across the border, ISPR said.
Afghanistan claimed it carried out the attack as a “retaliatory” measure, accusing Islamabad of conducting air strikes in its territory last week.
For its part, Islamabad did not confirm whether it was behind the air strikes but underscored Pakistan’s right and resolve to defend itself against terrorist groups such as the TTP.
Islamabad has repeatedly called on Kabul to bar terrorist groups from using its territory to attack Pakistan; however, Afghanistan denies the allegations and claims Afghan soil is not used for attacks on neighbouring countries.
The issue of terrorists using Afghan soil against Pakistan has long strained ties between the two countries, and the ties seem to have nose-dived with the recent increase in hostilities at the border.
