Ceasefire takes effect between Pakistan, Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday issued separate statements to announce a ceasefire between the two sides, which has been implemented later.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said on Wednesday that at the request of the Afghan side, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on a temporary 48-hour ceasefire to ease border tensions.

"During this period, both sides will make sincere efforts to find a positive solution to this complex but solvable issue through constructive dialogue," said the Foreign Office.

Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced on social media on the same day that a ceasefire would be implemented between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mujahid said that at the request and insistence of the Pakistani side, a ceasefire between the two countries would take effect Wednesday. The Afghan government has instructed all its forces to observe the ceasefire as long as the other side does not launch any attacks.

The announcements came after days of cross-border exchanges of fire between the two countries.

Pakistan's security forces carried out strikes on different targets in Kandahar and Kabul provinces of Afghanistan earlier in the day, according to sources from the security forces.