- Islamist militants firing from Afghanistan into Pakistan killed seven Pakistani paramilitary soldiers on 10/27, officials said, in an attack likely to put more strain on tense relations between the neighbors.
- Afghanistan and Pakistan routinely trade accusations of doing too little to prevent Taliban fighters and other militants operating in the other's territory.
- Some Pakistani military officials (who did not want to be named) claimed the attacks were by Afghan militants, not extremists.
- The ‘attacks’ will put strain on an already tense relations between the nations, which Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has tried to improve since coming to power last year.
- Ghani says the two countries must work together in order to defeat Islamist insurgents who threaten both countries.
- Afghan officials have long accused Pakistan of tolerating Afghan Taliban seeking shelter on Pakistani territory and even of supporting them. Pakistan, of course, denies these accusations. Instead, Pakistan says the leadership of the Pakistani Taliban - a group loosely allied with the Afghan Taliban but fighting to topple Pakistan's government - is based in Afghanistan.
- This finger pointing game has helped neither country and caused more resentment than corroboration. This latest string of killing will add to the complex Afghan-Pak relationship and it will be interesting to see its effects in the future.