Afghanistan, Pakistan keep to 48-hour ceasefire after deadly clashes

A ceasefire along the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan was holding on Oct 16, officials on both sides said, after dozens of troops and civilians were killed in cross-border clashes.

- 

People attending a funeral for those killed in cross-border shelling between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, on Oct 16. Dozens of troops and civilians have been killed in the clashes.

(PHOTO: EPA)

In Spin Boldak, a focal point of recent clashes on the Afghan side, an AFP journalist saw shops reopening and residents returning to homes they had fled during the fighting.

The 48-hour ceasefire was aimed at allowing time to “find a positive solution... through constructive dialogue”, according to Islamabad.

Pakistan is facing a resurgence of attacks against its security forces on its western border with Afghanistan, led by the Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates.

Forty civilians were killed and 170 others wounded on Oct 15, according to Spin Boldak’s director of public health Karimullah Zubair Agha.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan earlier reported at least 18 civilians killed and more than 350 wounded in the violence.