The National Times - Ceasefire called after new Pakistan-Afghanistan clashes kill dozens

The ceasefire was announced by Pakistan's foreign ministry after a week of violence between the two neighbours that flared after explosions in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan that were blamed on Pakistan.

The Taliban government in Kabul launched an offensive along parts of its southern border in retaliation, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response of its own.

Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups led by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil, a claim Kabul denies.

With both countries on edge, plumes of black smokke were seen rising above Kabul after the two blasts in the Afghan capital on Wednesday evening, AFP reporters said.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said an oil tanker and a generator had exploded, sparking fires, although he did not explicitly link the blasts to the clashes with Pakistan.

However, a Pakistani security source told AFP that Islamabad had carried out "precision strikes" in the Afghan capital.

Ambulances raced through Kabul and shattered glass from damaged buildings littered the streets, AFP saw. Taliban forces also cordoned off some city streets.

The ceasefire was announced by Islamabad barely an hour later. Taliban authorities in Kabul ordered the army to respect the ceasefire.

Pakistan's military earlier accused the Afghan Taliban of attacking two major border posts in the southwest and northwest.

It said both assaults were repelled, with about 20 Taliban fighters killed in attacks launched near Spin Boldak on the Afghan side of the frontier in southern Kandahar province early on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately the attack was orchestrated through divided villages in the area, with no regard for the civil population," the military said in a statement.

It also said about 30 more were thought to have been killed in overnight clashes along Pakistan's northwest border.

The Afghan Taliban said 15 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in the clashes near Spin Boldak and that "two to three" of its fighters were also killed.

Taliban spokesman Mujahid said in an earlier statement that 100 civilians were also wounded around Spin Boldak, adding that calm had returned after Pakistani soldiers were killed and weapons seized.

The Pakistan military said these were "outrageous and blatant lies".

Pakistan did not give a toll for its losses in the latest clashes but said last week 23 of its troops had been killed in the opening skirmishes.

- Surge in attacks -

Sadiq, a resident of Spin Boldak who gave only his first name, said fighting broke out at around 4:00 am (2330 GMT Tuesday).

"Houses were fired upon, including my cousin's. His son and wife were killed, and four of his children were wounded," he told AFP.

All businesses in the area were closed and many residents have fled, an AFP correspondent reported.

In Chaman on the Pakistani side of the border, one resident described the pre-dawn clashes as "total chaos".

"Our children and women were terrified and began screaming," Raaz Muhammad, 51, told AFP by phone.

In a separate incident, a senior security official in Peshawar in Pakistan's northwest said seven frontier troops had been killed in an attack on a checkpoint.

The relatively new Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen armed group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament last week that several attempts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop supporting the TTP had failed.

Islamabad accuses the TTP -- which was combat-trained in Afghanistan and claims to share the ideology of the Taliban there -- of killing hundreds of Pakistani soldiers since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Clashes erupted on Saturday evening when Kabul launched an operation in at least five provinces along the border, two days after the initial blasts.

The Taliban government said it attacked Pakistani security forces in "retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul".

Islamabad then vowed a forceful response on Sunday, and dozens of casualties were reported on both sides.

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R.Campbell--TNT