Cross-border fighting between Pakistan and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan reached a fever pitch, with Pakistan carrying out airstrikes in Kabul.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers announced that a ceasefire with neighboring Pakistan would go into effect Wednesday, after a second eruption of cross-border violence in less than a week that has left dozens of people dead and injured and seen Pakistan carry out unprecedented airstrikes on the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a social media post that at least 12 civilians were killed and more than 100 others wounded in cross-border attacks by Pakistani security forces along the border in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province. An international medical charity said at least five people were killed Wednesday amid explosions in Kabul, but the cause of the blasts could not be immediately confirmed.
Mujahid said Taliban forces responded on Wednesday, killing several « invading Pakistani soldiers. »
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said Wednesday that it had recorded « scores of killed and injured Afghan civilians as a result of recent cross-border clashes », adding that it was still working « to determine the full scale of civilian harm. »
The agency called « on all parties for an immediate end to hostilities to protect civilians and prevent further loss of life.
