Pakistan announces ‘temporary pause’ in strikes against Afghanistan at request of several countries

Bulldozers dig graves for victims of a Monday airstrike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai) 2026-03-18T13:07:28Z ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan announced on Wednesday a pause in strikes against Afghanistan, saying the decision was made ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. In a statement, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the pause in strikes on “terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan” in neighboring Afghanistan will take effect at midnight Wednesday and remain in place until midnight Monday. He said: “Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with the Islamic norms”. However, he said, “in case of any cross-border attack, drone attack or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan,” the operations will immediately resume with renewed intensity. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Bulldozers dug pits in a cemetery in the Afghan capital ahead of a mass funeral Wednesday for some of the victims of what officials have said was a Pakistani airstrike that hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul earlier this week. The strike was the deadliest in an escalating conflict between the two neighbors, now in its third week. Afghan officials have put the death toll at 408 people, with 265 wounded. The toll could not be independently verified. Pakistan rejects Afghanistan’s accusation that it targeted the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital, insisting its strikes in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan Monday had been against military facilities. It has dismissed Afghan claims of hundreds of casualties as propaganda. In an interview with The Associated Press in Islamabad Wednesday, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan had “only targeted terrorist infrastructure.” “We have just gone after the Afghan Taliban regime, their military set

原文链接: AP News