Stranded trucks with goods parked near the closed Ghulam Khan zero-point border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Gurbuz district in the southeast of Khost province on October 20, 2025. After a week of violence, residents on the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan are hoping a new ceasefire deal will end the clashes and revive crucial cross-border trade. While the crossings remain closed, life has regained a semblance of normality. (Photo by AFP)
Afghanistan and Pakistan officials are due to meet in Istanbul for a third day of talks after failing to clinch a lasting peace, three sources familiar with the matter said, as US President Donald Trump repeated an offer to mediate.
The South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire in Doha on Oct 19 after days of border clashes that killed dozens in the worst such violence since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
