ISTANBUL

China on Monday urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to return to negotiations to bring an end to mounting hostilities that have killed dozens of people from both sides over the past two weeks.

Addressing a news conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called upon Kabul and Islamabad to exercise restraint in the ongoing border clashes, saying he hoped the two sides would achieve a ceasefire.

“Afghanistan and Pakistan are neighbors and cannot be separated from each other. We hope that they will return to the negotiating table, remain calm and exercise restraint,” Lin said.

He said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken to his Pakistani and Afghan counterparts, urging both sides to prevent the spread of clashes.

Beijing, Lin added, is willing to continue making “active efforts” for peace between the two neighbors.

"China hopes both sides will remain calm and exercise restraint, hold face-to-face talks as soon as possible, and achieve a ceasefire at an early date," Lin said.

Separately, Afghanistan on Monday claimed that two more civilians were killed and several others injured in overnight shelling by Pakistani forces.

Mustaghfar Gurbaz, a spokesman for the Khost provincial governor, said the Pakistani military launched mortar attacks around midnight on Nari village in Gurbaz district of eastern Khost Province, in which a woman and a child were killed, local broadcaster Tolo News reported.

Kabul's claim came a day after four brothers were killed in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal district in alleged cross-border firing from Afghanistan.

There were no immediate reactions from Islamabad and Kabul to each other's claims.

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have worsened in recent weeks as border tensions escalated last month, causing casualties and property damage.

Since late February, cross-border clashes have killed 106 people on the two sides, including 13 soldiers and five civilians in Pakistan, with one soldier still missing. According to Kabul, 13 soldiers and 75 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan.

According to UN data, 185 civilian casualties, including 56 deaths from indirect fire and aerial attacks, were reported in Afghanistan between Feb. 26 and March 5.

Separately, Afghan Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlavi Hibatullah Akhundzada on Monday said Kabul "wishes to maintain good and beneficial relations with other countries based on Islamic principles."

In his message on the eve of Eid al-Fitr — one of the two main Muslim festivals — he called on "all sides to respect the beliefs and values of the people of Afghanistan and to refrain from interfering in our internal affairs."