Afghanistan and Pakistan are holding peace talks

KABUL, Afghanistan — Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding peace talks as a tenuous ceasefire holds following cross-border clashes that left dozens of people dead and hundreds wounded. Here's a look at what's been going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan: Clashes since early October The fighting, which has killed civilians, security forces and militants, has been the deadliest in years between the two neighbors. It erupted after an Oct. 9 explosion in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and another in the southeastern province of Paktika the same day that Afghanistan's Taliban-led government blamed on Pakistan. Pakistani officials have neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the blasts, and there was no official comment from either side on whether there were any injuries. Since Oct. 9, there are been several shelling and shooting incidents which have led to dozens of deaths on both sides of the border, although the two sides have differed widely on the casualty figures. Earlier this week, Pakistan's military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said more than 200 Afghan soldiers and more than 100 militants were killed when Pakistani forces targeted militant hideouts and army positions in Afghanistan after coming under attack. Afghan government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected the claim, saying only nine Afghan soldiers had been killed and 22 wounded. But he said up to 45 civilians had been killed and 102 had been wounded in the attacks. Mujahid also claimed 58 Pakistani soldiers had been killed, but Pakistan countered that number was incorrect and that 23 of its soldiers had been killed in the fighting. Afghanistan and Pakistan traded thinly-veiled threats of escalation, prompting Qatar to bring the two to the negotiating table in Doha for peace talks that led to a ceasefire on Oct. 19. Since then, another two rounds of negotiations have been held in Istanbul. While both sides say the ceasefire is holding, there have been attacks even while the talks continue. An Afghan official said Friday that overnight clashes in the border area killed four Afghan civilians and wounded another five. The border area The two countries share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border known as the Durand Line, named after British diplomat Mortimer Durand and established in 1893. The line cuts through the heartland of the Pashtun, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group and also the group from which the Afghan Taliban who now run the country stems from. Although the line is internationally recognized as Pakistan's western border, Afghanistan has not recognized it. Both countries often accuse each other of the turning a blind eye to Islamic militants operating along the porous frontier. Militants Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of allowing the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, to be based on its soil and to carry out carry out bombings and gun attacks within Pakistan. Kabul rejects the allegations, and says it does not allow anyone to use Afghan soil for attacks on any country, including Pakistan. Created in 2007, the TTP brought together different outlawed groups that agreed to work together against Pakistan and support the Afghan Taliban, who at the time were fighting U.S. and NATO forces. The United Nations and United States have designated it a terrorist organization. The group seeks stricter enforcement of Islamic laws, the release of its members imprisoned in Pakistan, and a reduction in Pakistani military presence in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province bordering Afghanistan that it has long used as a base. Although separate, the group is closely allied with the Afghan Taliban. Many of its leaders and fighters are believed to have taken refuge in Afghanistan since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, further straining ties between the two countries. Pakistan has seen an increase in militant attacks on its security forces and civilians in recent months, most of them claimed by the TTP. In response, Pakistan's military said it has targeted TTP hideouts inside Afghanistan. Last month, Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said his country wants Afghanistan to hand over TTP members and leaders based in Afghan territory or take steps to stop them from carrying out attacks inside Pakistan. "If that does not happen there could be open an open war" with Afghanistan, he warned. Afghan officials say they will not hand over TTP leaders, that Pakistan's conflict with the group is an internal matter and that Islamabad should open negotiations with the group. Mediation The outbreak of cross-border fighting alarmed the international community, particularly as the area is one where other militant groups, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, still have a presence and have been trying to resurface. Qatar and Turkey have been helping broker the ceasefire and peace talks, aiming to prevent all-out conflict and creating a durable framework for border security. A ceasefire that began on Oct. 19 following the first round of talks in Qatar has largely held since then. U.S. President Donald Trump later weighed in, saying on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in Malaysia that he intended to resolve the conflict "very quickly." His comments came as the two sides held a second round of talks in Istanbul, Turkey. But those negotiations collapsed after four days, with Pakistan accusing Kabul of refusing to act against the TTP. Despite the setback, the ceasefire held and the third round of peace talks began on Nov. 6 in Istanbul.