Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near the Afghan border yesterday, Pakistani security officials said, amid a fragile ceasefire between Islamabad and Kabul that paused days of intense fighting between the former allies this month.
The South Asian neighbors engaged in fierce ground fighting, and Pakistan also launched airstrikes across their contested frontier, killing dozens and wounding hundreds, before they reached a 48-hour truce that was due to end yesterday.
The soldiers were killed in an attack by militants on a Pakistani military camp in Waziristan, which also left 13 injured, the officials said.
Photo: EPA
One militant rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the boundary wall of a fort that served as a military camp while two others tried to get into the facility and were shot dead, they said.
Pakistan’s army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The latest conflict between the two countries was triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in militants who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that Pakistan “retaliated,” as it lost patience with Afghanistan following a series of militant attacks, but was ready to hold talks to resolve the conflict.
The Taliban denies the charge and accused the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan, provoking border tensions, and sheltering Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty.
Islamabad denies the accusations.
Although the Islamic nations have clashed in the past, the fighting this month is their worst in decades. It has drawn the attention of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who have mediated and sought to stop the fighting.
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