In the midst of a tenuous ceasefire between Islamabad and Kabul that halted days of fierce combat between the erstwhile allies this month, Pakistani security sources reported that seven of their soldiers were killed in a suicide strike near the Afghan border on Friday.Before reaching a 48-hour truce that is scheduled to expire at 1300 GMT on Friday, the South Asian neighbours fought in intense ground combat and Pakistan launched airstrikes across their disputed border, killing dozens and injuring hundreds.

Five security officials reported that 13 soldiers were injured in a militant attack on a Pakistani military installation in north Waziristan that claimed the lives of the servicemen.

While one militant rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the boundary wall of a fort that served as a military camp, 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.

Militant violence in Pakistan has been a major irritant in its relationship with the Afghan Taliban, which returned to power in Kabul after the departure of U.S.-led forces in 2021