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KABUL – Pakistan and Afghan delegations on Saturday headed to talks after Pakistani air strikes in Paktika province killed at least 10 people and shattered a short-lived 48-hour ceasefire that had brought a temporary halt to days of fierce border fighting.
Afghan officials and local health sources said the overnight raids struck three locations in Paktika, leaving civilians among the dead and at least a dozen wounded. Provincial medics reported two children were among the fatalities.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board said three domestic cricketers returning from a friendly match were among those killed and announced Afghanistan’s withdrawal from the planned Tri-Nation T20 series in Pakistan as a mark of mourning. Thousands attended funerals in the affected districts, according to local reports.
Pakistan’s military defended the strikes as “precision aerial strikes” targeting the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group — a local faction Islamabad links to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — and said the operation was a response to recent militant attacks that killed Pakistani paramilitary troops. Kabul denies harbouring groups that attack Pakistan.
The violence marks a sharp escalation after weeks of tit-for-tat incidents: a 48-hour truce announced midweek briefly reduced hostilities but collapsed after the new strikes. The United Nations has reported dozens killed and hundreds wounded on the Afghan side since the clashes intensified, and international appeals for restraint are growing.
Senior defence officials from both sides are in the Qatari capital for crisis talks aimed at de-escalation and measures to stop cross-border attacks. Diplomats say the outcome of those meetings will be pivotal in determining whether the ceasefire holds or fighting resumes.
