ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned a senior Afghan diplomat and lodged a strong protest over a deadly suicide attack earlier this week that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers and a girl near the Afghan border.

The ministry said in a statement the Afghan deputy head of mission in Islamabad was called in Wednesday and handed a formal diplomatic protest following Monday’s attack in the northwestern Bajaur district, which it said was carried out by insurgents based in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan reserves the right to respond and eliminate those who were behind the attack wherever they may be located, to protect its soldiers, civilians and borders,” it said. There was no immediate comment from Afghanistan.

Tensions have persisted between the neighbors since deadly border clashes in October 2025 killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. The violence followed explosions in Kabul on Oct. 9 that Afghanistan blamed on Pakistan. A ceasefire mediated by Qatar has since held, although subsequent talks in Istanbul failed to produce a definitive agreement, and relations remain strained.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks in recent years, most blamed on Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. They are separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, who returned to power in 2021. Islamabad accuses the TTP of operating freely inside Afghanistan, a charge both the TTP and Kabul deny.