Ceasefire Confusion: Pakistan And Taliban Differ On Who Sought The 48-Hour Truce

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire on Wednesday (15 October) following deadly border clashes that killed dozens, but the two sides immediately contradicted each other over who requested the truce.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the ceasefire came "at the request and insistence of the Pakistani side", while Pakistan's Foreign Ministry insisted Afghanistan had made the request.

Mujahid said that under the ceasefire agreement, the fighting would stop, "at the request and insistence of the Pakistani side," at 5:30 p.m. local time (which was 8:30 a.m. Eastern).

He said the Taliban had instructed all of its forces to observe the ceasefire, "as long as no one commits an act of aggression."

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry claimed the ceasefire came at the "Taliban's request".

"The Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban regime — at the Taliban’s request... have decided to implement a temporary ceasefire starting from 6 p.m. (01.00 GMT) today for the next 48 hours,” the Ministry said.

The ceasefire announcement followed intense fighting along the volatile border near Spin Boldak in Kandahar province and Pakistan's Chaman district.

Pakistan carried out airstrikes targeting what it described as terrorist hideouts in both Kandahar and Kabul, while the Taliban government reported civilian casualties including more than a dozen killed and over 100 wounded.

Both sides accused the other of initiating hostilities, with Pakistan alleging Afghanistan harbours militants from the Pakistan Taliban, a charge Kabul denies.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan's de-facto Taliban government have deteriorated since the Taliban retook control of the country in the summer of 2021.   

The tension escalated on 9 October, when the Pakistani air force carried out its first airstrikes in Kabul.

The Taliban said Pakistan's air force struck inside Kabul again on Wednesday, destroying a home, before the ceasefire came into effect.

In response to the initial airstrikes, Taliban forces launched retaliatory action on border and claimed to have killed over 50 Pakistani soldiers.

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