Suicide Bomb Attack Kills 7 Pakistani Soldiers

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JAKARTA - Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near the Afghan border. A temporary ceasefire that halted the days-long fierce fighting between the two neighboring countries ended without any news of its extension.

The two neighboring South Asian countries were involved in fierce ground battles.

Pakistan also launched airstrikes on their disputed border, killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds more, before they reached a 48-hour ceasefire which ended at 13.00 Friday, October 17 local time.

As reported by Reuters, seven soldiers were killed in a militant attack on a Pakistani military camp in northern Waziristan, which also left 13 people injured.

A militant crashed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the wall of a fort barrier that served as a military camp, while two others tried to break into the facility and were shot dead.

Six militants were killed in the suicide attack, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said in a statement, without providing details of the number of soldiers killed.

The identities of the attackers are not yet known and no group has yet claimed responsibility.

Militia violence in Pakistan has become a major disruption in its relations with the Afghan Taliban, which returned to power in Kabul after US-led forces withdrew in 2021.

The latest conflict between the two countries was sparked after Islamabad demanded Kabul to control the militants that have stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they were operating from hiding places in Afghanistan.

Sharif said on Thursday Pakistan was "replying" for losing its patience against Afghanistan after a series of militant attacks, but was ready to hold negotiations to resolve the conflict.

The Taliban denied the allegations and accused the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan, provoking tensions at the border, and protecting ISIS-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty.

Islamabad denies the allegations.

On Friday, Pakistan's Red Crescent said Afghanistan had handed over the bodies of seven Pakistanis, two security personnel and five civilians who died in clashes earlier this week.

Although these two Islamic countries have clashed in the past, fighting this month is the worst in decades.

This has caught the attention of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who mediated and tried to stop fighting.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he could help resolve the conflict.