Islamabad: Afghan and Pakistani delegations are heading to the Qatari capital Doha to defuse the deadliest crisis between them in several years, after more than a week of fighting killed dozens of people and injured hundreds on both sides.
The Taliban government said Saturday that the Afghan delegation included the defence minister and the head of the national intelligence agency. A Pakistani delegation was due to depart Saturday, the national broadcaster PTV had said a day earlier. It did not give further details.
Each country says it is responding to aggression from the other. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants who carry out attacks in border areas, a charge rejected by the Taliban.
A 48-hour ceasefire intended to pause hostilities expired Friday evening. Hours later, Pakistan struck across the border.
Pakistani security officials confirmed to The Associated Press that there were strikes on districts in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province — Urgun and Barmal.
The targets were hideouts of the militant Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. Pakistani Air Force raids killed dozens of armed fighters, and there were no civilian deaths, they added.
One said the operation was a direct response to the suicide bombing of a security forces compound in Mir Ali, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a day earlier.
But Afghan officials said the aerial assaults killed at least 10 civilians, including women and children. The attacks prompted the national cricket board to boycott an upcoming series in Pakistan.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, condemned the “repeated crimes of Pakistani forces and the violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.”
Such acts were deemed provocative and viewed as “deliberate attempts” to prolong the conflict, he added.
