<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It follows more than a week of fighting that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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 statement said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/no-kings-protests-against-trump-bring-a-street-party-vibe-as-gop-calls-them-hate-america-rallies/cb1b97e4-903f-4a84-a373-89941d1f4596" rel="" target="" title="Millions join 'No Kings' protests across the USA"><strong><span>Millions join 'No Kings' protests across the USA</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Delegations from Afghanistan and Pakistan were in Doha for talks to resolve the deadliest crisis between them in several years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The talks were mediated by Qatar and Turkey.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both governments had sent their defence ministers to lead the talks, which Pakistan said would focus on “immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the border.”</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/world-news-afghanistan-and-pakistan-have-agreed-to-an-immediate-ceasefire-qatar-says/19cc658b-1d7e-4fd9-ab5a-b97f72b854d1" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Each country has said it was responding to aggression from the other.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Afghanistan denies harbouring militants who carry out attacks in border areas.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have called for calm, as the violence threatened to further destabilise a region where groups including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida are trying to resurface.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A 48-hour ceasefire intended to pause hostilities expired Friday evening. Hours later, Pakistan struck across the border.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pakistani security officials confirmed to The Associated Press Saturday that there were strikes on two districts in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The targets were hideouts of the militant Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One said the operation was a direct response to the suicide bombing of a security forces compound in Mir Ali, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province a day earlier.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-october-19-what-happened-on-this-day/b898103e-0fd7-4ba6-8e8b-ab1b409f652e"><strong><span>Albert risked his life to cure tuberculosis. But someone else took credit</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Pakistani Air Force raids killed dozens of armed fighters and there were no civilian deaths, they said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Afghan officials said the aerial assaults killed at least 10 civilians, including women, children and local cricketers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The attacks prompted the national cricket board to boycott an upcoming series in Pakistan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Saturday, several thousand people attended funeral prayers in Paktika.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They sat in the open air as loudspeakers broadcast sermons and condemnation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, in a statement, criticised the “repeated crimes of Pakistani forces and the violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Such acts were deemed provocative and viewed as “deliberate attempts” to prolong the conflict, he added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The two countries share a 2611-kilometre border known as the Durand Line, but Afghanistan has never recognised it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pakistan is grappling with surging militancy, especially in areas bordering Afghanistan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It also accuses its nuclear-armed neighbour and rival India of backing armed groups, without providing any evidence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, urged Afghans to choose “mutual security over perpetual violence and progress over hardline obscurantism.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“The Taliban must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan,” he told an audience on Saturday at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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