Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to temporary Eid al-Fitr ‘pause’ in conflict

Pakistani minister says five-day pause, to begin at midnight Thursday, requested by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to a temporary “pause” in hostilities during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr this week, officials said, amid weeks of deadly violence between the neighbouring countries.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the pause – set to run from midnight on Thursday (19:00 GMT on Wednesday) until midnight on Tuesday (19:00 GMT on Monday) – had been requested by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye.

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“Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with the Islamic norms,” Tarar wrote in a social media post.

However, he warned that “in case of any cross-border attack, drone attack or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan, [operations] shall immediately resume with renewed intensity”.

Shortly after the announcement, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban government also said it would temporarily suspend military operations against Pakistan.

The pause in fighting is set to begin just days after Afghanistan accused the Pakistani military of killing hundreds of people in an air strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in the country’s capital, Kabul.

Pakistan has “strongly” rejected the claim that it is responsible for the attack, telling Al Jazeera Arabic this week that it only targets “terrorist infrastructure and military locations”.

The United Nations said on Wednesday that it had recorded 143 deaths in the incident at the Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital, a 2,000-bed facility. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the death toll.

The neighbouring countries have been experiencing their worst fighting in years after Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities launched an operation in late February against the Pakistani military along the 2,640km (1,640-mile) Durand Line, which separates the two nations.

The Taliban said the operation was in response to deadly Pakistani air strikes.

Pakistani authorities, for their part, have said the strikes were aimed at stopping armed fighters from using Afghan territory to attack the country following weeks of violence and heightened tensions between the two sides.

The conflict has seen repeated cross-border clashes, as well as air strikes inside Afghanistan, despite international calls for a ceasefire and concerns about a widening displacement crisis.

Earlier this week, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “the intensifying conflict is placing additional strain on health systems and increasing risks to the health and well-being of vulnerable populations”.

“I urge all parties to de-escalate and prioritize peace and health,” he wrote on social media, noting that at least six health facilities in Afghanistan have been affected by the violence since late February.