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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has decided to formally recommend US President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for his “decisive diplomatic intervention” during last month’s India-Pakistan military standoff, it said on Saturday.

The statement came after Trump took credit for a peace deal negotiated in Washington between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda and complained he had been overlooked by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for his mediating role in conflicts between India and Pakistan, as well as Serbia and Kosovo.

Trump campaigned for office as a “peacemaker” who would use his negotiating skills to quickly end wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Both conflicts are still raging five months into his presidency.

Indian officials have denied that Trump played any part in their country’s ceasefire with Pakistan.

In a post on X, the Pakistani government said President Trump demonstrated “great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation last month.”

It continued: “This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker and his commitment to conflict resolution through dialogue.”

The military standoff between the two nuclear-armed neighbors was triggered by a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denied complicity.

The four-day standoff raised fears of wider conflict between the South Asian rivals who have fought multiple wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir. Trump offered to mediate the Kashmir dispute between the neighbors.

On Friday, the US president predicted that Washington would be able to negotiate trade deals with both India and Pakistan.

“We did a very great job with India and Pakistan, and we had India in, and it looks like we’re going to be making a trade deal with India,” he told reporters in New Jersey. “And we had Pakistan in, and it looks like we’re going to be making a trade deal with Pakistan. And it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”

The Pakistani government said it acknowledged and admired Trump’s offers to help resolve the longstanding Kashmir dispute that lies at the “heart of regional instability.”

“Durable peace in South Asia will remain elusive until the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Jammu and Kashmir,” it said.

The government added this it hopes Trump’s “pragmatic diplomacy and effective peace-building” will help resolve various ongoing crises in the Middle East.

“Pakistan remains hopeful that his earnest efforts will continue to contribute toward regional and global stability, particularly in the context of ongoing crises in the Middle East, including the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza and the deteriorating escalation involving Iran,” it said.

KONDUGA, Nigeria: A suicide attack in Nigeria’s Borno state by a woman allegedly acting for Boko Haram insurgents has killed at least 20 anti-militant fighters, militia members told AFP on Saturday.

Police have confirmed 10 people were killed and said the overall toll could be higher.

Boko Haram and its rival, the Daesh West Africa Province (Daesh-WAP), have in recent months intensified attacks on villages in Borno and neighboring states.

They have also overrun military bases, killing soldiers and carting away weapons.

Late on Friday, a woman allegedly detonated explosives strapped to her body at a haunt for vigilantes and local hunters assisting the Nigerian military in fighting “militants” in the town of Konduga, the militia told AFP.

“We lost 20 people in the suicide attack which happened yesterday around 9:15 p.m. (2015 GMT) while our members were hanging out near the fish market,” said Tijjani Ahmed, the head of an anti-militant militia in Konduga district.

Konduga is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern state of Borno.

Surrounding villages have been repeatedly targeted by suicide bombers said to be acting for Boko Haram, a group of armed Islamic militants that has been active in the area for at least 16 years.

Konduga town itself had seen a lull in such attacks in the past year.

“Eighteen people died on the spot, while 18 others were injured. Two more died in hospital, raising the death toll to 20,” Ahmed said.

Sixteen were wounded, with 10 of them nursing severe injuries in two hospitals in Maiduguri, he said.

The dead were buried in a mass funeral on Saturday, an AFP reporter saw.

Corpses wrapped in white cloths — some covered in bamboo mats — were laid out in rows on the ground on wooden biers ahead of the burial.

The alleged bomber was dressed as a local heading to the crowded nearby fish market.

She detonated her explosives as soon as she reached the shed used by the militia fighters as a hangout, said militia member Ibrahim Liman.

He gave the same toll as Ahmed.

Borno state police spokesman Nahum Daso told AFP that 10 bodies had been recovered from the “suicide attack.”

He said the toll could be higher as “details are sketchy.”

Konduga’s fish market, which is usually busy at night, has been the target of a series of suicide attacks in the past.

“I was in the market to buy fish for dinner when I heard a loud bang some meters behind me,” Konduga resident Ahmed Mallum said.

“I was flung to the ground and I couldn’t stand. I just lay down,” Mallum said.

The conflict between the authorities and Boko Haram has been ongoing for 16 years.

In that time, more than 40,000 people have died and around two million have been displaced from their homes in the northeast, according to the United Nations.

The violence has spread to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight armed militant Islamic groups.