In Afghanistan, at least ten civilians were killed and a dozen more were injured last night after Pakistan launched air strike on a border province of Paktika, breaking a ceasefire that had brought two days of calm to the border.

The 48-hour truce paused nearly a week of border clashes that killed dozens of troops and civilians on both sides.

 

 

A senior Taliban official said, Pakistan broke the ceasefire and bombed three locations in Paktika province. The official said, Afghanistan will retaliate. Among the dead include at least three local cricket players. The killing of the three cricketers prompted Afghanistan to pull out of a tri-nation series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka scheduled for next month. Afghanistan’s cricket board in a social media post said the players had traveled to Paktika Province to take part in a friendly match.

 

 

Media reports said, Pakistani drones also struck Khandar, a village in the Afghan province’s Argun district.

The countries had reached an initial 48-hour cease-fire on Wednesday, hours after Pakistan carried out air strikes in Afghanistan and the two sides exchanged artillery and gunfire along their disputed border.

 

 

As the cease-fire neared its end yesterday, Pakistan called for an extension of the ceasefire until the conclusion of planned talks at Doha in Qatar aimed at easing tensions and preventing cross-border violence. However media reports said, it was unclear this would hold in light of the attacks. Negotiations between the two sides were scheduled to begin today