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ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed over 30 Pakistani Taliban militants in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan, the Pakistani military said on Thursday, hours after a ceasefire with Kabul following deadly cross-border clashes.

Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years, where militant groups, mainly the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have stepped up their attacks against security forces and law enforcement agencies, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of officials in recent months.

The surge in militancy last week triggered some of the deadliest cross-border clashes between the Pakistani security forces and the Afghan Taliban. Islamabad accuses the Taliban of allowing the use of their soil and India of supporting militant groups for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said on Thursday that Pakistani forces had killed 34 militants in multiple engagements in North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Bannu districts between Oct. 12 and Oct. 15. Pakistani military separately exchanged cross-border fire with the Taliban forces on Wednesday.

“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharji (militant) found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement, adding that its anti-militancy campaign, ‘Azm-e-Istehkam,’ will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of “foreign sponsored and supported terrorism” from the country.

There was no immediate comment from Afghanistan or India in response to the Pakistani military’s statement, which came a day after Pakistan carried out an airstrike on the Afghan border province of Kandahar and hit the town of Spin Boldak, officials in both countries said.

Pakistani security officials said the airstrike had targeted a brigade of Afghan Taliban troops and that dozens were killed. Enayatullah Khowarazmi, Afghanistan’s defense ministry spokesperson, said residential areas of Spin Boldak were hit.

Pakistan carried out another airstrike in Kabul, the officials said. It was not clear what the target of the strike was in Kabul.

Pakistan’s military said earlier on Wednesday it had repelled coordinated attacks by Afghan Taliban fighters at multiple points along the shared border in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, saying Kabul’s forces had destroyed a key trade gate and endangered civilians.

Last weekend, Pakistan said 23 of its soldiers were killed in cross-border fighting while Afghan authorities claimed to have killed 58 Pakistani troops and lost 9 of their own.

But the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Thursday that at least 18 people have been killed and more than 360 wounded in Afghanistan in military clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan since Oct. 10,

“UNAMA calls on all parties to bring a lasting end to hostilities to protect civilians,” it said.

Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have sharply deteriorated over the surge in militancy in Pakistan’s western regions since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. The two countries share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) long border known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan has never recognized.

China supports countries in exercising restraint and realizing a full and lasting ceasefire, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, when asked about Pakistan and Afghanistan agreeing to a 48-hour ceasefire on Wednesday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press briefing that Beijing stands ready to continue to play a constructive role for continued improvement in the two countries’ relations.

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump, who has aggressively campaigned for a Nobel Prize, hailed his peace efforts and joked about not getting the prize at a dinner at the White House on Wednesday, saying Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif got “emotional” while crediting him for saving millions of lives.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week. Over the past two years, she has reenergized a politically disengaged population after more than a decade of economic and social collapse.

Speaking at the White House dinner, Trump said Pakistan PM Sharif recently met him and emotionally credited him in front of a group of people for stopping multiple wars and thus saving lives of millions of people that could have been lost to the conflicts.

“In fact, the prime minister of Pakistan came and told me, and he was emotional about it. And in front of a group of people, he said, ‘This man saved 3 million, 5 million, maybe an untold number of lives’,” the US president said.

“And it was just recently that this happened, and we did numerous of them like that. And part of the reason we did it was trade.”

Sharif this week hailed President Trump for his “exemplary” leadership as world leaders signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Today is a one of the greatest days in contemporary history, because peace has been achieved after untiring efforts led by President Trump who is genuinely a man of peace, who has relentlessly and untiringly worked throughout these months, day in and day out, to make this world a place to live with peace and prosperity,” he said, standing beside Trump in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Sharif has gained favor with Trump since publicly endorsing him for a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering a ceasefire in a four-day Pakistan-India military standoff in May.

The White House criticized the Nobel Committee’s decision to grant the peace prize to the Venezuelan opposition leader instead of Trump, who aggressively lobbied for the award and touted his role in brokering international ceasefire deals.

Trump has repeatedly said that he has ended eight wars since taking office and that he deserves the peace prize.

“I stopped eight wars in eight months. Did I get a Nobel Prize? No,” he jokingly remarked at the White House dinner on Wednesday.

“I suspect that next year will be better, but I don’t know.”

— With input from Reuters