NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Dozens of people have been killed in airstrikes and ground fighting between South Asian neighbours Pakistan and Afghanistan this month - their deadliest confrontation since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

As the former allies seek to resolve the crisis during a 48-hour ceasefire that began at 1300 GMT on Wednesday, here is a look at how their military forces and arsenals compare, according to data from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

OVERVIEW

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel said on Thursday it was preparing for the reopening of Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date as it traded blame with Hamas over violations of the U.S.-mediated ceasefire.

A row over the return of bodies of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza retains the potential to upend the truce along with other major planks of the plan yet to be resolved, including disarmament of militants and Gaza's future governance.

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey has put a former head of its disaster management agency in charge of its aid to Gaza, a Foreign Ministry source said, a sign it intends to ramp up its role as a guarantor of the new ceasefire after sitting out earlier rounds of diplomacy.

President Tayyip Erdogan, a critic of Israel's assault on Gaza, joined long-term mediators Qatar and Egypt this week in signing off on U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end the war, after largely steering clear of negotiations for two years.

By Emma Farge

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (Reuters) -The father of 18-year-old Hassan who says his son was shot in the head over two months ago in Gaza while out seeking food hopes that the reopening of the Rafah border point will save him.

"The Rafah crossing is our lifeline, for patients and for the Gaza Strip," Ibrahim Qlob told Reuters in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis where Hassan lies motionless in bed, his eyes covered with bandages.

"I'm waiting. One day passing for me feels like a year."

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -At least 18 people have been killed and more than 360 wounded in Afghanistan in military clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan since Oct. 10, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement on Thursday.

"UNAMA calls on all parties to bring a lasting end to hostilities to protect civilians," the statement added.

(Reporting by Saeed Shah; Writing by Surbhi Misra; Editing by YP Rajesh)

Iraqi farmer Umm Ali has watched her poultry die as salinity levels in the country's south hit record highs, rendering already scarce water unfit for human consumption and killing livestock.

"We used to drink, wash and cook with water from the river, but now it's hurting us," said Umm Ali, 40, who lives in the once watery Al-Mashab marshes of southern Iraq's Basra province.

This season alone, she said brackish water has killed dozens of her ducks and 15 chickens.

"I cried and grieved, I felt as if all my hard work had been wasted," said the widowed mother of three.

Swedish prosecutors on Thursday sought the arrest a young Syrian man for killing Salwan Momika, who repeatedly burned copies of the Koran in 2023 and sparked outrage in the Muslim world.

Momika, an Iraqi Christian, was shot on January 29 in an apartment in Sodertalje, south of Stockholm. He died soon after in hospital.

"We have a clear picture of the sequence of events, and following extensive technical investigations and a review of the collected surveillance footage, we have requested that a person be remanded in custody," senior prosecutor Rasmus Oman said in a statement.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -A suspect has been identified in the murder of an anti-Islam campaigner in Sweden in January, the public prosecutor said on Monday, a case that the Swedish prime minister has said might have links to foreign powers.

"We have a good picture of the sequence of events and after extensive technical investigations and review of obtained surveillance footage," the prosecutor said in a statement. "At present, the suspect's whereabouts are unknown."

The statement did not name the suspect.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel’s military aid agency COGAT said on Thursday preparations are ongoing with Egypt to open the major Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the movement of people, with the date to be announced at a later stage.

Israel had earlier warned it could keep Rafah shut and reduce aid into the Palestinian enclave as Hamas, it said, was returning the bodies of dead hostages too slowly, underlining the risks to a ceasefire that halted two years of devastating war and saw all living hostages held by Hamas released.

By Steve Holland and Costas Pitas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is looking to establish a basic stabilization of Gaza and planning is underway for an international force to go into the Palestinian enclave, said a senior U.S. adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Wednesday.

"Right now what we're looking to accomplish is just a basic stabilization of the situation. The international stabilization force is starting to be constructed," said the senior U.S. adviser.