Pakistani airstrike kills 10, breaches truce with Afghanistan

Shafaq News – Kabul

Ten civilians, including two children, were killed and 12 were injured in a Pakistani airstrike on Afghanistan’s Argun district in Paktika province near the border, a hospital source told AFP on Friday. 

A senior Taliban official also told AFP that Pakistani forces had launched strikes on Afghan territory, violating a temporary ceasefire. "Pakistan breached the truce and bombed three areas in Paktika," the official said, affirming that "Afghanistan will respond."

The attack took place despite reports from both Afghan Taliban and Pakistani security sources that the two countries had agreed on Friday to extend a ceasefire by 48 hours to allow for continued talks in Doha, Qatar.

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, a Pakistani delegation had already arrived in Doha, while an Afghan delegation was expected to join the discussions on Saturday.

Earlier, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Afghanistan’s Ariana News that Kabul had instructed its forces to respect the ceasefire unless attacked. “Our forces will observe the truce as long as Pakistan does not initiate hostilities,” he stated.

A temporary truce brokered on Wednesday had brought a halt to days of intense cross-border fighting that resulted in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries on both sides.