Kabul must rein in militants for ceasefire to hold, says Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD - A ceasefire agreement between Islamabad and Kabul rests on the ruling Afghan Talibans ability to rein in militants attacking Pakistan across their shared border, Pakistans Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters on Monday, underscoring the fragility of the accord.

The South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire in Doha at the weekend after days of border clashes that killed dozens, the worst such violence since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

Ground fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani airstrikes across their contested 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul control militants, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.

Anything coming from Afghanistan will be (a) violation of this agreement, said Asif, who led the talks with his Afghan counterpart Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob. Everything hinges on this one clause.

The Taliban administration and Afghanistans defence ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

WRITTEN AGREEMENT SAYS NO INCURSIONS FROM AFGHANISTAN

In the written agreement signed by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Qatar, it was clearly spelled out that there would not be any incursions, the minister said in an interview in his office at Pakistans parliament in Islamabad.

We have a ceasefire agreement as long as there is no violation of the agreement which is already in force.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella of several Islamist militant groups, operates out of Afghanistan to attack Pakistan in connivance with the ruling Taliban, the minister said.

Kabul denies giving haven to militants to attack Pakistan and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering Islamic State-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty.

Islamabad