Pakistan, Afghanistan Sign Doha Ceasefire Agreement

Pakistan and Afghanistan signed a bilateral agreement in Doha, brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, committing both sides to a comprehensive ceasefire and to refrain from supporting groups that attack the other. The deal, reached in talks between Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif and Afghanistan’s acting defence minister Mullah Yaqoob, also establishes mediated mechanisms to review bilateral claims. Despite the agreement and a short truce, Pakistani airstrikes in Paktika province killed at least 10 people, including three Afghan cricketers, prompting Afghanistan to withdraw from a Pakistan T20I series and raising fears the ceasefire is fragile. Islamabad said the strikes targeted the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group in retaliation for attacks that killed Pakistani personnel, while both sides report dozens killed and hundreds injured during a week of cross-border clashes. The agreement aims to stabilize the porous border, but the recent violence underscores risks to its implementation.