Fragile Truce: Pakistan and Afghanistan Hold Peace Talks After Deadly Border Clashes

Kabul — Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in peace talks as a fragile ceasefire holds after cross-border clashes that killed dozens and wounded hundreds. Mediated by Qatar and Turkey, the negotiations aim to prevent a wider war and establish clearer border-security arrangements.

Clashes since early October

The recent fighting — the deadliest between the neighbors in years — began after explosions on Oct. 9 in Kabul and in Afghanistan’s Paktika province. Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government blamed Pakistan for the blasts; Pakistani officials have neither confirmed nor denied involvement. Both sides have given sharply different accounts of casualties from the subsequent weeks of shelling and gun battles.

Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif, said Pakistani strikes on militants and Afghan army positions killed more than 200 Afghan soldiers and over 100 militants. Afghan government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected those numbers, saying nine Afghan soldiers were killed and 22 wounded, while up to 45 civilians were killed and 102 wounded. Mujahid also alleged 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed; Pakistan disputed that and said 23 of its soldiers had died.

Heightened rhetoric and threats of escalation prompted Qatar to host talks in Doha that produced an Oct. 19 ceasefire. Two further rounds of negotiations have been held in Istanbul, and both capitals say the truce is largely holding, though isolated attacks and exchanges of fire have continued. Afghan officials recently reported overnight clashes that killed four civilians and wounded five others.

The border area

Pakistan and Afghanistan share the 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) Durand Line, drawn in 1893 and named for British diplomat Mortimer Durand. The boundary cuts through the Pashtun heartland — Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group and the community from which many Taliban leaders originate. Although internationally recognized as Pakistan’s western border, Afghanistan has not accepted the Durand Line, complicating bilateral relations.

The frontier is porous and difficult to control; both governments frequently accuse the other of turning a blind eye to militants operating along it.

Militants and the TTP

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of sheltering Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters who have claimed numerous attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies permitting Afghan territory to be a staging ground for attacks on other states. The TTP, formed in 2007, is designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations and the United States and has long sought greater enforcement of strict Islamic laws in Pakistan, the release of jailed members, and reduced Pakistani military presence in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Although organizationally separate from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP is closely allied with them, and many of its commanders are believed to have sheltered in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan has said it has targeted TTP hideouts inside Afghanistan in response to a recent rise in militant attacks.

Pakistan’s defense minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, demanded that Afghanistan hand over TTP leaders or take effective steps to stop attacks, warning an open war could follow if demands were not met. Afghan officials say they will not hand over TTP leaders and urge Islamabad to negotiate directly with the group.

Mediation and international reaction

The cross-border fighting alarmed the international community because other militant groups, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, still maintain a presence in the region and could seek to exploit instability. Qatar and Turkey have played leading roles in brokering a ceasefire and facilitating talks to avoid full-scale conflict and to seek a durable framework for border security.

The truce that began on Oct. 19 has largely held. Then-U.S. President Donald Trump commented during an ASEAN summit that he intended to help resolve the dispute “very quickly.” After a second round of talks in Istanbul collapsed amid accusations that Kabul refused to act against the TTP, a third round of negotiations began on Nov. 6 in Istanbul.

Reporting contributed by Becatoros in Athens and Ahmed in Islamabad.