ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's prime minister said "the ball was in the Afghan Taliban's court" for a permanent ceasefire, a day after a 48-hour truce was called in the wake of deadly cross-border clashes on Thursday.
"If in 48 hours they want to resolve the issues and address our genuine demands, then we are ready for them," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told his cabinet, reiterating that Pakistani Taliban militants should be eliminated and that Afghan territory not be used to plot attacks.
Iran on Thursday welcomed the ceasefire between its eastern neighbours, urging dialogue and diplomacy after days of deadly clashes.
In a statement, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei expressed concern over civilian casualties and called for stronger regional cooperation to combat terrorism, while reaffirming Tehran's readiness "to assist in any effort to maintain calm and reduce tensions between the two neighbouring Muslim countries".
Tehran, which does not formally recognise the Taliban government in Kabul, has nonetheless maintained working relations with the group despite recurring disputes over water rights.
A ceasefire along the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan was holding on Thursday, officials on both sides said, after dozens of troops and civilians were killed in cross-border clashes.
In Spin Boldak, a focal point of recent clashes on the Afghan side, shops reopened and residents returned to homes they had fled during the fighting.
The 48-hour ceasefire was aimed at allowing time to "find a positive solution... through constructive dialogue", according to Islamabad.
Pakistan is facing a resurgence of attacks against its security forces on its western border with Afghanistan, led by the Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates.
Forty civilians were killed and 170 others wounded on Wednesday, according to Spin Boldak's director of public health Karimullah Zubair Agha.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) earlier reported at least 18 civilians killed and more than 350 wounded in the violence.
"Our houses were bombed, a child was wounded. I heard the plane myself," Abdul Zahir, a 46-year-old resident, said. "It's terrifying."
Hundreds of residents and Taliban officials attended the funeral of seven members of the same family in Spin Boldak, an AFP journalist saw.
Islamabad accuses Kabul of offering safe haven to militants who plan their frequent assaults from Afghan soil — a charge the Taliban government denies.
Pakistani officials on the northern and southern border with Afghanistan said on Thursday that "no violence was reported overnight, and the ceasefire remains in effect".
A senior security official in Peshawar said: "Additional paramilitary troops have been deployed to counter potential... militant activity that could jeopardise the ceasefire."
Shortly before the truce was announced, blasts were reported in the capital Kabul and the southern province of Kandahar, where the Afghan Taliban's shadowy supreme leader lives.
UN rights chief Volker Turk welcomed the ceasefire and appealed to "both parties to prevent any further harm to civilians & commit to a lasting ceasefire". — AFP
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