Five Pakistani soldiers have been killed in fresh clashes near the Afghan border, even as peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan continue in Turkey.

According to Pakistan’s military, the fighting took place on Friday and Saturday in the remote Kurram and North Waziristan districts along the northwestern frontier. Islamabad claimed that 25 militants attempting to cross from Afghanistan were also killed.

The Pakistani army said the infiltration attempt raised serious doubts about Afghanistan’s commitment to combating terrorism. The Taliban government in Kabul has not commented on the incident.

Tensions between the two neighbours have been escalating in recent weeks. Pakistan recently carried out airstrikes in Kabul, killing at least eight people, including three cricketers. Following the strikes, both countries agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire, later extended until the conclusion of talks in Doha. However, Pakistan reportedly launched another attack before the extension took effect.

As delegations from both sides meet in Turkey for a second round of peace negotiations, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif warned that “if the peace talks fail, Pakistan will have no choice but to go to war with Afghanistan.”

A helicopter carrying Indian President Droupadi Murmu suffered a minor mishap while landing at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Pathanamthitta, Kerala, on Wednesday (October 22).

According to a report by NDTV, the incident occurred shortly after the President’s visit to the Sabarimala temple. The stadium was chosen as the landing site at the last minute after adverse weather conditions forced a change from the original site at Nilakkal.

Officials said the concrete helipad at the stadium had been constructed overnight and had not fully set. As a result, the surface caved in during landing, causing one of the helicopter’s wheels to get stuck and the aircraft to tilt slightly.

Police and fire service personnel quickly rushed to the scene and managed to safely secure the helicopter. Video footage showed the aircraft being lifted from a partially sunken position above an underground water tank.

President Murmu is currently on a four-day visit to southern India. She arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday and later traveled to Pathanamthitta district, where she visited the Sabarimala temple and took part in an ‘aarti’ ceremony earlier in the day.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

A small aircraft crashed onto a football field in Long Beach, California, on Tuesday afternoon, injuring two people, according to US media outlet CBS News.

The single-engine plane went down at around 4 p.m. local time in Hartwell Park after taking off from French Valley Airport in Murrieta. Firefighters rescued an elderly man from the aircraft and transported him to hospital, while a woman walking in the park was also injured. Both victims are in moderate but stable condition.

Authorities said multiple investigative agencies have launched an inquiry to determine the cause of the crash. Video and eyewitness accounts show emergency crews working to secure the site shortly after the incident.

The crash adds to a recent string of small aircraft accidents in the United States. Last Friday, a single-engine plane made an emergency landing in an open field in Texas, injuring the pilot. A day earlier, another crash in a Michigan forest killed three people after a loud explosion and smoke were reported by residents.