Pakistan Denies Violating Ceasefire With Taliban
Pakistan has rejected Taliban claims that it violated a ceasefire along the border.
Pakistan has rejected Taliban claims that it violated a ceasefire along the border.
According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the country’s Information Ministry described the allegation as “baseless”.
The Taliban’s Defence Ministry had earlier accused Pakistan’s military of breaching the ceasefire in border areas.
Fasihuddin Fitrat, chief of staff of the Taliban armed forces, said several civilians were killed in attacks by Pakistani forces in the border regions.
Afghanistan Journalists Centre says Afghan journalist Mehdi Ansari has been released from a Taliban prison after completing his sentence.
Ansari, who had been sentenced to 18 months in prison on charges of cooperating with Afghan media outlets abroad, was freed from Bagram prison on Tuesday evening and reunited with his family in Kabul.
In a statement, the centre said Ansari’s fundamental rights had been seriously violated.
Ansari went missing on October 6, 2024 after leaving his workplace in the Pul-e-Sokhta area of Kabul. His family confirmed three days later that he had been detained by Taliban intelligence.
On January 1, 2025, a primary court in Kabul sentenced him to 18 months in prison on charges of propaganda against the Taliban authorities.
The Afghan Journalists Centre said Ansari was convicted without access to an independent defence lawyer and through an unfair process. It added that a video of his forced confession was released by Taliban intelligence during his detention.
According to the centre, at least 21 journalists and media workers were detained in Afghanistan in 2025.
With Ansari’s release, at least four journalists and media workers remain in detention, the organisation said.
The US State Department says the Taliban are detaining American citizens for political gain and warned the actions will not go unanswered.
A US State Department official told Afghanistan International that, under guidance from the US president, the Taliban’s behaviour would face consequences.
Last week, the United States placed the Taliban administration on its list of wrongful detention governments.
The official said the Taliban are engaging in hostage diplomacy.
He added that the designation by the State Department is a direct response to the continued and unjust detention of American citizens by the Taliban for political gain.
According to the official, the administration of President Donald Trump is sending a clear message that if Americans are detained, there will be consequences consistent with this designation.
He also referred to remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said these abhorrent tactics must end.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban have detained several Shia clerics in Herat after they refused to mark Eid al-Fitr on the day declared by the group.
Unlike most Muslim countries, the Taliban announced Thursday as the first day of Eid al-Fitr, while Saudi Arabia said Friday, March 20, would mark the start of Eid.
According to the sources, the Taliban’s Department of Hajj and Religious Affairs in Herat held a meeting on Tuesday attended by mosque imams and members of the Shia Ulema Council.
At the meeting, the Taliban presented a document and asked those present to sign it, committing to observe Eid in line with the Taliban’s announcement.
The sources said Shia scholars rejected the request, stating that in Shia jurisprudence the timing of Eid and fasting is determined by religious authorities.
According to the sources, during the meeting the Taliban detained Mohammad Rohani, head of religious schools in south-west Afghanistan and director of the Sadeqia seminary.
They added that on Wednesday the Taliban also detained Khodadad Ehsani, a representative of Ayatollah Mohaqiq Kabuli and preacher at the Al-Mahdi mosque in Jebrail, Mohammad Akbari, former head of the Jebrail Ulema Council, and several other Shia clerics in Herat, transferring them to prison.
China’s foreign ministry says it welcomes a temporary ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban.
Spokesperson Lin Jian said China hopes both sides will remain calm and exercise restraint, and resume peace talks as soon as possible.
He made the remarks on Thursday, March 19, a day after Pakistan and the Taliban agreed to temporarily suspend fighting during Eid following a request from Saudi Arabia and other regional countries.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson stressed that both sides should reach a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire as soon as possible, resolve differences through dialogue and maintain peace and stability between the two countries and in the region.
He added that China appreciates efforts by Islamic countries to help secure a ceasefire between Pakistan and the Taliban.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime says it did not support the Omid hospital in Kabul that was destroyed in a Pakistani airstrike, citing its control by the Taliban interior ministry.
Polleak Ok Serei, the UNODC representative in Afghanistan, said the agency did not back the facility because it was under the Taliban’s interior ministry.
He said the UN office believes drug treatment centres should be managed by the public health ministry and that rehabilitation must be voluntary and free from coercion.
During Pakistani strikes on Monday night in Kabul and Nangarhar, at least three bombs hit the Omid drug treatment centre in eastern Kabul. The Taliban said 400 people were killed and 250 others injured. A diplomatic source in Kabul told Afghanistan International the death toll could reach hundreds.
The Omid centre is located at a former NATO base in eastern Kabul. It was run by the Taliban’s interior ministry and is reported to be near Taliban military facilities.
Ok Serei said that under international humanitarian law, medical facilities must be kept away from military targets, and parties to a conflict must avoid attacking civilian objects, including hospitals.
