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Officer from afghanistan And Pakistan are arriving Queue Talks were held on Saturday to end the border clashes, which left three cricketers dead in the latest escalation.
The neighbors have been locked in a deadly conflict for nearly a week, which has left dozens dead and hundreds injured. Both claim to respond to the aggression of the other side.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of harboring terrorists who carry out attacks inside the country, especially members of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Kabul rejected the allegation.
Fighting intensified on Friday night after the Pakistani Army carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
Unnamed officials told The Associated Press that the attacks targeted positions of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur terrorist group, adding that they were retaliation for a suicide bombing at a security forces compound in Mir Ali, Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a day earlier. He said dozens of armed fighters were killed in the raid but no civilians were killed.
But Afghan officials said at least 10 civilians, including women, children and three local cricketers, were killed in the air strikes. The attacks prompted the National Cricket Board to boycott the upcoming T20 series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka “as a sign of respect for the victims”.
Afghan cricket captain Rashid Khan said, “I am deeply saddened by the loss of civilian lives in the recent Pakistani air strikes on Afghanistan.” “A tragedy that took the lives of women, children and aspiring young cricketers who dreamed of representing their country on the world stage.”
Mr Khan welcomed the cricket board’s decision to withdraw from the matches against Pakistan. “I stand with my people in these difficult times,” he said, adding, “Our national dignity must come before all else.”
In the wake of the latest clashes, regional powers including Saudi Arabia and Qatar have urged the warring countries to exercise restraint and hold talks to reduce tensions.
As of Saturday afternoon, both sides were working to defuse the deadliest crisis in years.
Pakistani negotiators had already reached Doha, while an Afghan delegation was due to reach the Qatari capital later in the day.
The two countries share a 2,611 km long border, demarcated by the Durand Line, which was drawn during British colonial rule of the subcontinent but was not recognized by Afghanistan.
Government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said Afghanistan was sending the defense minister and the head of the national intelligence agency to talks in the Gulf.
It was not immediately clear who was representing Pakistan.