Pakistan says ceasefire holds after Afghan govt 'assurances'

Pakistan said on Friday that a ceasefire with Afghanistan was holding after receiving "assurances" from Kabul, a day after Turkey announced a fresh round of peace talks would take place there next week.

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"The ceasefire holds," Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters at a weekly briefing, adding that Islamabad would respond to any provocation. "We have taken note of assurances from the Afghan side on this issue." Islamabad "hopes for a positive outcome" in the talks, and is "entitled to be this optimistic for the subsequent round" of negotiations, Andrabi said.

The talks in Istanbul, set for Nov.6, follow the deadliest clashes between the South Asian neighbours since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Separately, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir told a gathering of tribal elders in Peshawar that Pakistan seeks peace with all its neighbours, including Afghanistan, but will not tolerate cross-border terrorism from Afghan soil.

He said Pakistan in recent years exercised restraint and made diplomatic and economic overtures to improve ties, but the Taliban government instead supported the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which was listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations and the United States over a decade ago.