Pakistan Dawn News, October 15th: The Pakistani Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that after a new round of clashes erupted at the border between the two countries, Pakistan and the interim government of the Taliban in Afghanistan have reached an agreement to implement a 48-hour temporary ceasefire starting at 18:00 (Beijing Time 21:00) on the 15th according to Pakistan time.

The statement said that Pakistan and Afghanistan will make sincere efforts through dialogue to seek positive solutions for this complex but resolvable issue.

Recently, small-scale armed conflicts have been continuously occurring in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. At night on the 11th to early morning on the 12th, there was gunfire between the border areas of the two countries. The Afghan side claimed that in response to the air strike by Pakistan at night on the 9th against the capital Kabul and the Paktika province, the Afghan army launched a retaliatory operation at night on the 11th. Pakistan condemned "provocative actions by Afghanistan in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area" and demanded that Afghanistan ensure its territory is not used for terrorist activities against Pakistan.

On the 15th, new conflicts broke out along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, with both sides accusing each other of launching deadly confrontations.

The Pakistani military stated that its forces killed "15 to 20 Afghan Taliban" in the Spinghar area and injured many others.

A Taliban spokesperson said that Pakistan shot dead 12 Afghan civilians and injured more than 100 people. He added that a large number of Pakistani soldiers had died.

A local source from the Spinghar area told the BBC that the conflict that broke out on the 15th began around 4 am local time. Another local said, "The intense conflict lasted nearly five hours. I saw drones and jet planes flying over us. Some of my relatives were injured."

A doctor from a hospital in the Spinghar area told the BBC that according to his statistics, "seven corpses and 36 injured were sent to the hospital," including men, women, and children. More people were sent to the hospital due to the "tense situation."

On October 13, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded to the Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict, stating that China was very concerned and worried about it.

Lin Jian said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are friendly neighbors of China. Since the two countries are neighbors that cannot be moved, they should adhere to friendly neighborhood relations, achieve economic and social development, and jointly combat terrorism, which is in line with the fundamental and long-term interests of both sides. China sincerely hopes that the two countries can look at the big picture, remain calm and restrained, and resolve their concerns through dialogue and consultation, avoid escalating conflicts, and jointly maintain the peace and stability of the two countries and the region. China is willing to continue playing a constructive role in improving and developing Sino-Pakistani-Afghan relations. China has asked both sides to take practical measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in the area.

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