Pakistan summons Afghan diplomat to protest a suicide attack that killed 8 soldiers in the northwest

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan summoned a senior Afghan diplomat Wednesday to strongly protest a deadly militant attack that left eight soldiers dead in the northwest bordering Afghanistan, the Foreign Ministry said.

A bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the ouster wall of an army housing complex on Monday in the city of Bannu in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In return, security officers opened fire, killing 10 insurgents.

A splinter group of Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, led by a militant commander Gul Bahadur, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The TTP is a separate group but also an ally of the Afghan Taliban and has stepped up its attacks in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said it asked Kabul to fully investigate the bombing and take immediate action against the perpetrators.

There was no immediate reaction from Afghanistan's Taliban government.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks in recent years, mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In January 2023 militants killed at least 101 people, mostly police officers, when a suicide bomber disguised attacked a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar.