Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed Thursday to extend a ceasefire following peace talks in Istanbul, after their deadliest border clashes in years. A follow-up round of negotiations will be held in Istanbul next week, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said. According to the ministry, both sides would meet again on November 6 to finalize a monitoring mechanism to "ensure maintenance of peace and imposing penalty on the violating party."
At least 19 soldiers had died fighting attackers from the armed group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commonly known as the Pakistan Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province that shares a long and contentious border with Afghanistan. Flanked by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to his left, Sharif delivered a blunt message to the Afghan Taliban, which returned to power in Kabul after the withdrawal of US forces in August 2021, and which he accuses of providing a haven to armed fighters on Afghan soil.
