Days before a surprise U.S. ceasefire agreement with Houthis, U.S. intelligence started picking up indications the Yemeni fighters were looking for an exit after seven weeks of relentless U.S. bombings,

India and Pakistan engaged in the most intense fighting in decades with four days of escalating conflict that included fighter jets, missiles and drones packed with explosives. It ended almost as abruptly as it began.

India scaled down its diplomatic relations with Pakistan as part of its retaliatory measures. It expelled all Pakistani defence attachés, declaring them "persona non grata" (unwelcome) and announced it would withdraw its own defence advisers from its high commission in Islamabad.

The ceasefire had been expected to bring a swift end to weeks of escalating clashes triggered by the mass shooting of tourists last month that India blames on Pakistan.

A ceasefire agreed between India and Pakistan appears to be holding, with both sides stressing their commitment to the surprise truce which halted the worst fighting in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

Zain and Urwa, 12-year-old twins, died from injuries sustained in a shell explosion in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The agreement to release Edan Alexander came after talks between Washington and Hamas that did not include Israel.

Pakistan had no plans on deploying nuclear warheads to strike India over the last week of fighting, the country’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar told CNN Monday.