Overview
- Both governments announced a synchronized halt to operations from midnight March 18/19 through midnight March 23/24 with explicit warnings of swift resumption if provoked.
- Afghan officials reported more than 70 Pakistani artillery shells landing in Kunar on Thursday, an allegation Pakistan’s Information Ministry rejected as a false claim of truce violations.
- United Nations officials confirmed 143 deaths at Kabul’s Omid/Omar addiction treatment hospital after this week’s strike, while Taliban authorities maintained a far higher toll and held mass funerals.
- Pakistan says its campaign targets militant infrastructure and denies striking a hospital, describing the Kabul target as an ammunition and drone depot linked to Afghan Taliban forces.
- The pause followed appeals from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye, drew support from China, and coincided with the Pakistani Taliban’s separate announcement of a three‑day Eid ceasefire.