Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of harboring the Pakistani Taliban, a charge Kabul denies.
Published on Oct 30, 2025
During talks in Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to extend the ceasefire for at least another week, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The sides plan to meet again on November 6 at a higher-level meeting in Istanbul to finalize the implementation of the ceasefire, the ministry said in a statement released on behalf of Pakistan, Afghanistan and mediators Turkey and Qatar.
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“All parties have agreed to establish a monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure the maintenance of peace and the imposition of penalties against the violating party,” the statement said.
The two neighbors were embroiled in a week-long border dispute early the following month Explosions in Afghanistanfor which the Afghan government blamed Pakistan.
The Pakistani military took part in the cross-border attacks that followed claimed it killed more than 200 Afghan fighters, while Afghanistan says it has killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.
It was the heaviest fighting between the two countries since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in 2021.
After the skirmishesMediation by Qatar and Türkiye led to a ceasefire signed by the defense ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan October 19th in Doha.
The two nations – which share a 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) border – began a second round of talks in 2019 Istanbul on Saturdaythat collapsed on Wednesday when both parties failed to reach consensus on Islamabad’s central demand that Kabul take action against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an armed group often referred to as the Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, that has long been accused by Pakistan of carrying out deadly attacks on its territory.
The Afghan government has always denied that it is providing safe haven for the group.
Talks resumed on Thursday and resulted in an agreement to maintain the ceasefire until a new round of talks on November 6.
Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement confirming the completion of the talks and said both sides agreed to continue talks at future meetings. Pakistan did not immediately comment.
While a ceasefire remains in place, the border between the two countries has been closed for more than two weeks, causing growing losses for traders in the region.
In Kandahar on the Afghan side, Nazir Ahmed, a fabric trader, told AFP that both countries were “suffering losses.”
“Our nation is tired and your nation is tired too,” the 35-year-old said on Wednesday.
Abdul Jabbar, an automobile spare parts dealer in the Pakistani border town of Chaman, said “trade is suffering badly.”
“Both countries are suffering losses – both are Islamic nations,” he told AFP.
