Star Metro - Pakistan, Afghanistan officials to meet in Qatar after latest strikes

Kabul accused Islamabad of violating the 48-hour ceasefire, which had paused nearly a week of cross-border clashes that killed dozens of troops and civilians on both sides.

The latest strikes targeted what Pakistan security sources said was a militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban in the Afghan border areas. It followed an attack that killed seven Pakistani paramilitary troops in North Waziristan, a district in Pakistan's northwest, on Friday.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said the talks in Doha aimed to "end cross-border terrorism against Pakistan emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border".

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and intelligence chief General Asim Malik were part of the delegation, state TV reported.

The Afghan delegation would be led by defence chief Mohammad Yaqoob, who had reached the Qatari capital, the Taliban defence ministry said on X.

Qatar has not commented on its role as host, though Pakistan's foreign ministry thanked Doha for its "mediation efforts".

Ahead of the talks, a senior Taliban official told AFP that Pakistan had bombed three locations in Paktika province late Friday, and warned that "Afghanistan will retaliate".

But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on X that their forces had been ordered to hold fire "to maintain the dignity and integrity of its negotiating team".

A hospital official in Paktika told AFP that 10 civilians, including two children, were killed and 12 others wounded, in the Pakistani strikes Friday.

Three cricket players in a domestic tournament were among the dead, the Afghanistan Cricket Board said.

"There is an atmosphere of fear and panic today," said Anwar Bidar, a freelancer from Urgun.

"I hope for a temporary ceasefire in the coming days, but experience has shown us that Pakistan regularly attacks border regions and will continue to do so."

- 'Still afraid' -

Security issues are at the heart of the tensions, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of sheltering militant groups led by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- a claim Kabul denies.

"Equally disconcerting is the use of Afghan soil for terrorism in Pakistan," Pakistan's army chief General Asim Munir said at a military parade on Saturday.

Munir added that "proxies have sanctuaries in Afghanistan" and were "using Afghan soil to perpetrate heinous attacks inside Pakistan".

Defence minister Asif went further, accusing Kabul of acting as "a proxy of India" and "plotting" against Pakistan.

In response, Afghan deputy interior minister Mullah Mohammad Nabi Omari said: "We neither brought the TTP here, nor supported them, nor did they come during our time."

The cross-border violence flared on October 11, days after explosions rocked Kabul during an unprecedented visit by the Taliban's foreign minister Amir Muttaqi to India, Pakistan's rival.

The Taliban then launched a deadly offensive along parts of its southern border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response.

Saadullah Torjan, a minister in Spin Boldak in Afghanistan's south, said: "For now, the situation is returning to normal."

"But there is still a state of war and people are afraid."

Iran, a neighbour to both countries, offered to help defuse tensions.

In a call between the Iranian and Afghan foreign ministers, Tehran warned that the tensions "threaten to undermine the stability of the entire region", according to state news agency IRNA.

A.Hill--SMC