Pakistan launched fresh air strikes targeting terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan, killing several people, including three cricketers, casting a shadow over the expected talks in Doha amid a fragile ceasefire that had temporarily halted hostilities between the two sides. The strikes followed a gun-and-bomb attack by terrorists at a military installation in North Waziristan, and just hours after Islamabad and Kabul extended their two-day ceasefire, the Dawn reported on Saturday.

There was no statement from Pakistan’s military, but the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the early Friday attack on Khaddi Fort in Mir Ali. The security sources said they foiled the attack by eliminating all four attackers without suffering any loss. Pakistan late Friday targeted the Angoor Adda region and also hideouts across Afghanistan’s Urgun and Barmal districts of Paktika province, as security sources claimed that precision strikes were conducted against hideouts of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, reportedly killing dozens of fighters, the paper said.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board claimed that three cricketers from Urgun District were killed in the strike on Paktika Province. Three players (Kabeer, Sibghatullah and Haroon) alongside 5 other fellow countrymen from Urgun District were killed in the attacks, while seven others were injured, ACB said in a statement issued on Saturday.  Following the incident, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has decided to withdraw from participating in the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I Series involving Pakistan, scheduled to be played in late November.

Meanwhile, Pakistani security sources pointed out that the ceasefire agreement between the Afghan Government and Pakistan did not preclude strikes on terror outfits and their hideouts, the Dawn reported. The fresh strikes followed as representatives from the two countries were expected to meet in Doha, where the Qatari Government was set to make an effort for mediation. The paper reported that the fresh exchanges on Friday night cast a shadow over the ceasefire, which had been extended just a few hours earlier, as well as the planned Doha talks.

“The ceasefire has been mutually extended by both Pakistan and Afghanistan till the end of the talks in Doha, Qatar. The talks are ready to begin [on Saturday],” a security source said on Friday at the conclusion of the initial 48-hour truce, which had been in effect since Wednesday. No bilateral initiative for talks emerged during the first phase of the truce. However, Qatar, which, along with Saudi Arabia, had pushed both sides to halt hostilities, offered to host their meeting in Doha.

Reports from Afghanistan suggest that the Taliban delegation would include Defence Minister Mullah Yaqub Mujahid and intelligence chief Mullah Wasiq. Pakistan’s Foreign Office did not comment on the matter, but a late evening meeting between National Security Adviser and ISI chief Lt Gen Asim Malik and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar suggested that Gen Malik may travel to Doha. In a related development, Afghan authorities on Friday handed over the bodies of seven Pakistani citizens, including two security personnel, who were killed in the Chaman sector of Balochistan on Tuesday.

There was outrage in Pakistan after videos were circulated on social media, showing Afghan soldiers dragging the bodies of security personnel and desecrating them. Foreign Office spokesperson responding to reports that bodies of some Pakistani soldiers had been mutilated said: “This kind of savagery, bestiality, is condemnable, and it needs to be condemned in the strongest words possible. This is beyond the pale”.

Choose between peace — chaos: Asim

Islamabad:  Army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Saturday warned Afghanistan to choose between “peace and chaos” as it asked Kabul to take firm and immediate action against terrorists using Afghan soil to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Munir’s statement came amidst Pakistan launching fresh air strikes targeting terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan late Friday, hours after Islamabad and Kabul extended their two-day ceasefire that had temporarily halted hostilities between the two sides.

Choose between “peace and chaos”, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) said, referring to Afghanistan while addressing a graduation ceremony of passing out army cadets at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul at Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.  The Taliban regime, he said, should act decisively against militants operating from its soil for terrorist activities in Pakistan.  All proxies using Afghan soil would be met with a response to “raise them to dust”, Munir warned.  Friday’s strikes by Pakistan followed a gun-and-bomb attack by terrorists at a military installation in North Waziristan, claimed by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).