Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, Qatar says

ISLAMABAD AP Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire Qatar s Foreign Ministry declared Sunday It follows more than a week of fighting that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds The two sides agreed to establish mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability as well as holding follow-up talks in the coming days to ensure the ceasefire s sustainability the Qatari message disclosed Delegations from Afghanistan and Pakistan were in Doha for talks to resolve the deadliest predicament between them in several years The talks were mediated by Qatar and Turkey Both governments had sent their defense ministers to lead the talks which Pakistan stated would focus on immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the territory line Each country has explained it was responding to aggression from the other Afghanistan denies harboring militants who carry out attacks in dividing line areas Regional powers including Saudi Arabia and Qatar have called for calm as the violence threatened to further destabilize a region where groups including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida are trying to resurface A -hour ceasefire intended to pause hostilities expired Friday evening Hours later Pakistan struck across the demarcation Pakistani safeguard leaders substantiated to The Associated Press Saturday that there were strikes on two districts in Afghanistan s eastern Paktika province The targets were hideouts of the militant Hafiz Gul Bahadur group according to the personnel who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media One disclosed the operation was a direct response to the suicide bombing of a guard forces compound in Mir Ali in Pakistan s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province a day earlier The Pakistani Air Force raids killed dozens of armed fighters and there were no civilian deaths they announced But Afghan agents disclosed the aerial assaults killed at least civilians including women children and local cricketers The attacks prompted the national cricket board to boycott an upcoming series in Pakistan On Saturday several thousand people attended funeral prayers in Paktika They sat in the open air as loudspeakers broadcast sermons and condemnation Zabihullah Mujahid the Taliban cabinet s chief spokesman in a declaration criticized the repeated crimes of Pakistani forces and the violation of Afghanistan s sovereignty Such acts were deemed provocative and viewed as deliberate attempts to prolong the conflict he added The two countries share a -kilometer -mile frontier known as the Durand Line but Afghanistan has never recognized it Pakistan is grappling with surging militancy especially in areas bordering Afghanistan It also accuses its nuclear-armed neighbor and rival India of backing armed groups without providing any evidence Pakistan s army chief Asim Munir urged Afghans to choose mutual precaution over perpetual violence and progress over hardline obscurantism The Taliban must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan he narrated an audience on Saturday at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Associated Press writers Abdul Qahar Afghan in Jalalabad Afghanistan Sajjad Tarakzai in Islamabad and Riaz Khan in Peshawar Pakistan contributed to this record