Sawt Falasteen - Ceasefire halts deadly Afghanistan-Pakistan fighting

In Spin Boldak, a focal point of recent clashes on the Afghan side, an AFP journalist saw shops reopening and residents returning to homes they had fled during the fighting.

The 48-hour ceasefire was aimed at allowing time to "find a positive solution... through constructive dialogue", according to Pakistan.

Just after it took effect, at 6:00 pm Islamabad time (1300 GMT) Wednesday, AFP journalists in Afghanistan briefly heard gunfire at the border.

The UN rights chief, Volker Turk, welcomed the ceasefire and appealed to "both parties to prevent any further harm to civilians & commit to a lasting ceasefire".

The truce announcement was preceded by more explosions in the Afghan capital, which the Taliban government did not attribute to Pakistan.

Violence erupted last week with explosions in Kabul and in southeast Afghanistan, which the Taliban government blamed on Islamabad.

Taliban authorities then launched an offensive at the border, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response of its own.

Exchanges of fire from Saturday killed dozens of people, with renewed violence from Wednesday also causing civilian casualties, according to Kabul.

- Five killed in Kabul -

Officially, the Taliban authorities blamed Wednesday's blasts on the explosion of an oil tanker and a generator which sparked fires.

But a senior Taliban official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Islamabad caused the second explosion and wanted to "target civilians".

Pakistani security sources said the military targeted an armed group with "precision strikes" in Kabul, as well as hitting Afghan Taliban hideouts in the southern Kandahar province.

At least five people were killed and 35 wounded in Wednesday's explosions in Kabul, an Italian NGO that runs a hospital in the city said.

"We started receiving ambulances filled with wounded people, and we learned that there had been explosions a few kilometres away from our hospital," Dejan Panic, Emergency's country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

The casualties suffered shrapnel wounds, blunt force trauma and burns, with 10 in critical condition, the NGO said.

There were blackouts overnight and into Thursday morning in some areas of Kabul, caused by electricity cables damaged in the explosions, AFP journalists in the city said.

This month's deadly violence follows strained bilateral relations, particularly over security issues.

Islamabad, facing a resurgence of attacks against its security forces, accuses Afghanistan of harbouring militants led by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which Kabul denies.

Last week's explosions in Afghanistan hit while the Taliban's top diplomat was on an unprecedented visit to India, a neighbour and foe of Pakistan.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST