Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to temporary Eid al-Fitr ‘pause’ in conflict | Conflict news

A Pakistani minister said the five-day pause requested by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey would start from midnight on Thursday.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to a temporary “pause” during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr this week, officials said, amid weeks of deadly violence between the neighboring countries.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the pause – from midnight Thursday (Wednesday 19:00 GMT) to midnight Tuesday (Monday 19:00 GMT) – was requested by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

“Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in accordance with Islamic norms,” ​​Tarar wrote in a social media post.

However, he warned that “in the event of any cross-border attack, drone strike or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan, (operations) will immediately resume with renewed intensity.”

Shortly after this announcement, a spokesman for the Taliban government in Afghanistan said it would temporarily suspend military operations against Pakistan.

The ceasefire comes days after Afghanistan accused the Pakistani military of killing hundreds of people in an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation center in the country’s capital, Kabul.

Pakistan has “strongly” rejected claims of responsibility for the attack, which Al Jazeera Arabic this week said targeted “terrorist infrastructure and military sites”.

The incident at the 2,000-bed Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital recorded 143 deaths, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the death toll.

The neighboring countries are experiencing their worst fighting in years since Afghan Taliban officials launched an operation in late February against the Pakistani military along the 2,640km (1,640-mile) Durand Line that separates the two nations.

The Taliban said the operation was in response to a deadly airstrike by Pakistan.

Pakistani officials, for their part, have said they aim to prevent armed fighters from using Afghan territory to attack the country after weeks of violence and tensions between the two sides.

The conflict has seen repeated cross-border clashes and airstrikes inside Afghanistan, despite international calls for a ceasefire and concerns about the extent of the displacement crisis.

Earlier this week, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “escalating conflict is placing additional pressure on health systems and increasing risks to the health and well-being of vulnerable populations.”

“I urge all parties to prioritize peace and health,” he wrote on social media, adding that at least six health facilities in Afghanistan have been affected by violence since late February.