In the aftermath of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border clashes, trousers of Pakistani soldiers were purportedly paraded by Taliban fighters as they celebrated in Afghanistan. Both sides agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire, a request both border nations attributed to each other.

Amid the chaos, the phrase ‘caught with their pants down’ turned out to be quite literally true for the Pakistani troops.

Afghanistan-Pakistan ceasefire

On Wednesday, officials from both sides announced that they agreed to a temporary ceasefire after tensions escalated between the South Asian neighbours.

A statement from Islamabad’s foreign ministry said the two countries would implement a “temporary ceasefire” for 48 hours, starting 13:00 GMT on Wednesday, adding that the truce was reached at Kabul’s request.

However, the Afghan Taliban administration’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid stated that the ceasefire came after “insistence of the Pakistani side”.

He further said that Kabul had directed its troops to abide by the ceasefire, provided the other side does not resume aggression.

UN rights chief Volker Turk welcomed the ceasefire and appealed to “both parties to prevent any further harm to civilians and commit to a lasting ceasefire”.

Wednesday’s fighting was the worst between the two Islamic countries since the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021.

The recent clashes came after Islamabad demanded that the Afghan Taliban administration control its militants, who had stepped up their attacks in Pakistan, stating they operated from Afghanistan’s refuge.

However, the Taliban refused the charge and accused the Pakistani army of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan, provoking border clashes, and sheltering ISIS-linked militants to undermine Kabul’s sovereignty and stability.

In response, Pakistan also denied the charges levelled by the Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban said that over a dozen of its civilians were killed and 100 injured as Pakistani troops launched attacks in Spin Boldak.

Islamabad denied launching these attacks, saying four of its civilians were injured in attacks by “Taliban forces” in Chaman district, opposite Spin Boldak across the frontier.

Taliban’s ‘Pants’ celebration

Celebrations erupted in Afghanistan after the 48-hour truce was announced, with several videos claiming that Taliban fighters cheered over their ‘win’ against Pakistan. A purported picture showed pants of Pakistani soldiers, being paraded in the street by the Taliban. These soldiers had reportedly abandoned military posts during the fighting,

Some videos also showed the Afghan troops parading tanks and weapons captured from the Pakistani soldiers.

HT.com couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of the clips or viral visuals.

In one of the videos on social media, Afghan forces were seen sitting and posing with the Pakistani tanks and arms. A man driving a car, who likely captured the video, was heard saying something in a regional language, “Thank God, everyone is returning to Kandahar,” according to a partial translation of his remarks.

Of all the visuals that surfaced from the celebrations in Afghanistan, the image showing Taliban fighters holding up the pants of the Pakistani soldiers stood out the most, and probably became an embarrassing point for Islamabad.

BBC journalist Daud Junbish shared the image on X, with the caption: “‘Empty trousers’, recovered from abandoned military posts of Pakistani army near Durand Line displayed in eastern Nangrahar province, Afghanistan.”

Aftermath of clashes

Humanitarian group Emergency NGO runs a surgical centre in Kabul, a facility for war victims, said it received five dead people and 35 injured.

Dejan Panic, the facility’s country director in Afghanistan, said, “We started receiving ambulances filled with wounded people, and we learned that there had been explosions a few kilometres away from our hospital.”

“They have shrapnel wounds, blunt force trauma and burns,” Dejan added.

Meanwhile, Pakistani officials on the border with Afghanistan told news agency AFP on Thursday that “no violence was reported overnight, and the ceasefire remains in effect”.

“Additional paramilitary troops have been deployed to counter potential… militant activity that could jeopardise the ceasefire,” a senior security official in Peshawar said.

According to AFP, blackouts were witnessed overnight and into Thursday morning in some areas of Kabul. They were reportedly caused by electricity cables damaged in the explosions.

(with inputs from agencies)