Pakistan to hold talks with Afghanistan in Qatar after latest strikes

AFP | Islamabad

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Pakistan and Afghan officials were due to meet in Qatar on Saturday, a day after Islamabad launched air strikes that killed at least 10 people in Afghanistan and broke a ceasefire that had brought two days of calm to the border.

The strikes targeted what Pakistan security sources said was a militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban in the Afghan border areas, following an attack that killed Pakistani paramilitary troops in North Waziristan, a district in Pakistan’s northwest.

Kabul accused Islamabad late on Friday of violating the truce, which had briefly paused nearly a week of cross-border clashes that killed dozens of troops and civilians on both sides.

“The talks will focus on immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism against Pakistan emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.