By DPA
Islamabad : Tribal elders of Pakistan and Afghanistan Thursday signed a ceasefire agreement to put an end to a recent spate of border clashes, local media reported.
Under the deal, the road connecting Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency and the Afghan province of Paktiya will be reopened to the public, the Aaj news channel reported.
A 14-member peace jirga (assembly) of tribal elders from the border areas of the two countries met after troops traded fire on May 17 for the second time this month.
The sides first exchanged fire on May 13 at the Tari Mangel border post in the fiercest fighting for decades, killing and injuring several soldiers and civilians.
The tribal elders also decided in their four-days talks to restart trade between the communities on both sides of the 2,500-kilometre frontier.
Islamabad and Kabul are increasingly resorting to the ancient jirga format to resolve conflicts.
Tensions have been running high between the neighbours – both allies in the US-led war on terror – over their collective failure to seal the border to Taliban and Al Qaeda militants launching attacks into Afghanistan from Pakistan.