KABUL/KARACHI – Pakistan and Afghanistan said they were pausing their military operations against each other on Wednesday for the Islamic festival of Eid-al-Fitr, a surprise move two days after a drug rehab centre in Kabul was hit in the deadliest strike in months.
The Afghan Taliban government has said that more than 400 people were killed and 265 wounded in the airstrike that took place on Monday night, just as people and staff at the centre were praying.
The casualty numbers shared by authorities have not been independently verified. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Wednesday that 143 people were killed and 119 wounded in the attack.
Pakistan rejected the Taliban’s statements about the strike, saying it had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure”.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad was pausing the military operations due to Eid, which marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan and is set to be celebrated at the end of this week.
The pause, he said in a post on X, was on Pakistan’s own initiative and at the request of Islamic countries Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. The pause would take effect at midnight on Wednesday and last until midnight on March 23.
“Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with the Islamic norms,” he said, adding that operations would resume with renewed intensity if there was any cross-border attack, drone attack or any “terrorist incident” inside Pakistan.
The Afghan Taliban followed with a similar announcement soon after Tarar.
Kabul was calling a temporary halt to defensive operations on the occasion of Eid and also at the request of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, Taliban government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a post on X.
Afghanistan would respond to any aggression in the event of any threat, he added.
Tarar also said that 707 people have been killed so far in Pakistan’s action against Afghanistan. Both sides have regularly claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on the other and independent verification has not been possible.
