WaffleWarrior
Well-known member
Pakistan and the Taliban have agreed to an "immediate ceasefire" after a week of deadly clashes along their 1,600-mile border. The news comes as the world's top diplomats gathered in Doha for talks aimed at establishing peace in Afghanistan.
The agreement was brokered by Qatar's foreign ministry alongside Turkey, which stated that both sides had agreed on establishing "mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability". Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, said ending "hostile actions" was "important", while Pakistan's Foreign Minister called the deal the "first step in the right direction".
However, clashes have continued despite this agreement. The worst fighting since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 has resulted in at least 17 Afghan civilians killed and hundreds more wounded.
Rumours had circulated that the blasts in Kabul were a targeted attack on Noor Wali Mehsud, the leader of Pakistan's Taliban. In response, the group released an unverified voice note from Mehsud saying he was still alive. This led to cross-border strikes by Afghan troops and retaliatory drone strikes by Pakistan.
Under the new agreement, the Taliban said it would not "support groups carrying out attacks against the Government of Pakistan", while both sides agreed to refrain from targeting each other's security forces, civilians or critical infrastructure.
Pakistan has long accused the Taliban of harbouring armed groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan. However, this is denied by the group.
The agreement marks a significant shift in relations between the two countries, which had deteriorated after Islamabad accused the Taliban of providing a safe haven to the Pakistan Taliban. This group has carried out at least 600 attacks on Pakistani forces over the past year, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
A temporary truce was declared last week but cross-border strikes continued until now. Under the agreement, talks will be held in Istanbul for further discussions next week.
The agreement was brokered by Qatar's foreign ministry alongside Turkey, which stated that both sides had agreed on establishing "mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability". Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, said ending "hostile actions" was "important", while Pakistan's Foreign Minister called the deal the "first step in the right direction".
However, clashes have continued despite this agreement. The worst fighting since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 has resulted in at least 17 Afghan civilians killed and hundreds more wounded.
Rumours had circulated that the blasts in Kabul were a targeted attack on Noor Wali Mehsud, the leader of Pakistan's Taliban. In response, the group released an unverified voice note from Mehsud saying he was still alive. This led to cross-border strikes by Afghan troops and retaliatory drone strikes by Pakistan.
Under the new agreement, the Taliban said it would not "support groups carrying out attacks against the Government of Pakistan", while both sides agreed to refrain from targeting each other's security forces, civilians or critical infrastructure.
Pakistan has long accused the Taliban of harbouring armed groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan. However, this is denied by the group.
The agreement marks a significant shift in relations between the two countries, which had deteriorated after Islamabad accused the Taliban of providing a safe haven to the Pakistan Taliban. This group has carried out at least 600 attacks on Pakistani forces over the past year, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
A temporary truce was declared last week but cross-border strikes continued until now. Under the agreement, talks will be held in Istanbul for further discussions next week.
... i mean, both sides agreed on mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability, which sounds great, but we all know how fragile those things can be 
. 17 afghan civilians killed already? that's just devastating 
. and what about the Pakistan Taliban group that's been carrying out attacks against pakistan? didn't they get any guarantees from the taliban that they'd stop? 
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. i mean, how many sections can one article need? 
. just kidding, sort of 
. seriously though, as a design nerd, i'm more interested in the structural elements of this news story than the actual news itself 
. what do you think about the use of images and graphics in journalism? should they be used to break up text or overwhelm us with too much info? 
and pakistan's been saying the taliban was harbouring armed groups that do attacks in pakistan, so why are they making concessions now? 
And now we're hearing that the Taliban has agreed to an "immediate ceasefire"... but at what cost? 
I mean, it's not like they haven't had enough chances to talk things through already. Like, have you seen the timeline of conflicts since 2021? 
It's been non-stop. And now we're only seeing a temporary truce? 
Did you know that Pakistan has lost over 5,000 soldiers and civilians to attacks by the Taliban since 2018? 
That's like, a whole army of people gone in just 3 years. The numbers are insane! 
I'm glad to see some progress in the fragile peace talks between Pakistan and the Taliban 
. A ceasefire is a huge step forward, especially after a week of intense fighting that's left many innocent civilians dead or injured 
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. But on the other hand, it seems like there are still a lot of unanswered questions about what exactly this ceasefire entails 
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. Will both sides be able to stick to their word and avoid any further cross-border clashes? Only time will tell 
. But for now, let's just hope that this agreement can lead to a more stable and peaceful future for everyone involved 
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I'm telling you, this ceasefire is a total game-changer! It's been a bloody mess between Pakistan and the Taliban for ages, and I'm glad to see some movement finally happening. But let's not get ahead of ourselves - we still have to wait and see if both sides actually follow through on their promises 
Pakistan and the Taliban are finally talking again after all these years! I remember back in my day, we used to think that the Taliban was just a bunch of radical extremists, but I guess they're trying to play nice now. It's about time, though - all this cross-border violence has been super scary for innocent civilians like those 17 Afghan civilians who got killed.
We'll have to keep an eye on things, I suppose.
... still got that Afghanistan situation in the back of my mind, you know? 
Like, can we really trust the Taliban to keep their word? 
The fact that there's been fighting despite the agreement already has me on edge 
. And what about the Pakistani Taliban group? Are they just going to sit back and let everyone else do all the work while they carry out attacks on their own side? 
The world is watching, though - fingers crossed this truce actually sticks and we can see some real progress next week in Istanbul 
. I mean, if it was really him talking on that recording, why did they need to do that?
. Let's just hope that the talks in Istanbul next week actually lead to some real progress 
but at the same time, 17 afghan civilians already lost their lives 
. and its still not clear if the ceasefire is really holding 
but now ppl are all shook up 
and they can finally work on those peace talks 
i mean pakistan and the taliban have been at war for years and its about time they agreed on a ceasefire 
anyway, i guess this agreement marks a new era for both countries 
pakistan and afghanistan have been beefing for ages, but suddenly they agree on a ceasefire? i'm not buying it 
. i'm glad some civilians got out alive tho 
. I mean, I get that both sides are trying to protect their own interests, but can't they just find a way to work together peacefully instead of resorting to violence?