Pakistan and Afghanistan Declare Eid Ceasefire After Kabul Airstrike Kills Hundreds at Drug Clinic

Pakistan and Afghanistan declared a temporary pause in their rapidly escalating cross-border war on Wednesday, agreeing to halt hostilities through Monday night in honor of Eid al-Fitr — the holiday marking the end of Ramadan — in what represents the first cessation of fighting since Islamabad declared "open war" on Kabul in late February. The truce was brokered by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, and its announcement came just two days after a Pakistani airstrike on Kabul killed hundreds of Afghan civilians, drawing international condemnation and threatening to further destabilize an already combustible region.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed the pause would run from midnight Thursday (7 p.m. GMT Wednesday) through midnight on Tuesday. He added a firm caveat: "In case of any cross-border attack, drone attack, or any terrorist incident inside Pakistan, operations shall immediately resume with renewed intensity." The Taliban government in Kabul, for its part, said it welcomed the pause but stopped short of a formal acknowledgment that it considers its side bound by the same conditions. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — the outlawed Pakistani militant group that Islamabad has long accused Kabul of sheltering — separately announced a three-day ceasefire ahead of Eid, in a rare alignment of political and militant timelines.

The humanitarian backdrop to the truce announcement is grim. On Monday, Pakistani F-16 jets struck what Kabul described as a drug rehabilitation center in the Afghan capital. The Taliban government said the strike killed 408 people, many of them patients undergoing treatment; Pakistan's military denied targeting a hospital, insisting its jets struck "verified terrorist infrastructure" used by TTP commanders. The United Nations called for an independent investigation. Mass funerals were held across Kabul on Wednesday, with mourners carrying dozens of white-shrouded bodies through the streets as thousands watched. The attack drew condemnation from China, Russia, and the European Union, all of which called for restraint.

The conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been building for years, rooted in longstanding accusations that Kabul's Taliban rulers provide sanctuary to the TTP — which has carried out hundreds of bombings and gun attacks inside Pakistan, killing thousands of soldiers and civilians since 2021. After a series of particularly deadly TTP attacks in February, including a suicide bombing at a Peshawar police academy that killed 38 cadets, Pakistan launched "Operation Ghazab" (meaning Wrath), a sustained air campaign targeting alleged TTP positions in Afghanistan's eastern provinces. The Taliban government denied the sites were militant bases and accused Pakistan of "deliberate massacres of Afghan civilians."

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Wednesday's truce as "a positive gesture that contributes to de-escalation," and expressed hope it would "pave the way for a sustainable ceasefire agreement that spares civilian lives." Analysts, however, were cautious. "This is a pause, not a peace," said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. "The fundamental grievances — TTP sanctuary, border disputes, water rights — none of those are resolved. The moment the holiday ends, the pressure to resume fighting will be immense." The United States, already deeply engaged in the Iran war, has so far played no direct mediation role in the Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict, though Pentagon officials confirmed they are monitoring the situation given Pakistan's status as a nuclear-armed state.