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After a dangerous escalation that included border clashes and alleged Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Taliban government announced a 48-hour ceasefire, effective at 13:00 GMT Wednesday.
While both sides claim the other initiated the truce, the announcement comes after a Taliban spokesman said 12 civilians were killed and over 100 wounded by Pakistani fire. Both sides also allege inflicting heavy casualties on each other, claims that remain unverified. The situation highlights the volatile relationship between the two countries and the difficulty in confirming information from the region.
Violence has flared since explosions rocked Afghanistan last week, which Kabul blamed on Islamabad. The Taliban deny claims they are harbouring militants targeting Pakistan.
Wednesday started with each side accusing the other of initiating the deadly clashes. Pakistan's military said its forces had killed "15-20 Afghan Taliban" and injured many in Spin Boldak border district. The Taliban government spokesman said numerous Pakistani soldiers had been killed.
Then, later in the day explosions in Kabul and Kandahar ratcheted up tensions. Within an hour, Pakistan announced the ceasefire.
"During this period, both sides will make sincere efforts to find a positive solution to this complex but solvable issue through constructive dialogue," its Foreign Office said.
The Taliban government spokesman said Afghan forces had been instructed to respect the ceasefire "as long as no one commits aggression".
Pakistani state media reported its armed forces had carried out air strikes on targets in Kandahar province and Kabul. There has been no public acknowledgement from the Pakistani military and no official confirmation from the Taliban government, whose spokesman posted on X that an oil tanker and a generator had exploded, without linking the blasts to fighting with Pakistan.
Taliban government sources, however, said Kabul had been hit by two air strikes. Plumes of black smoke were seen rising above the capital and the Taliban authorities sealed off some streets.
Kabul's emergency's surgical centre said it had received 40 people after the explosions - five were dead on arrival.
In a separate overnight clash on Pakistan's north-western border, the Pakistani military said that 25 to 30 Taliban and Pakistani Taliban fighters were "suspected" to have been killed.
The clashes have prompted calls for de-escalation from other countries including China and Russia, as well as a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that he could step in to broker peace.
