Pakistan says army killed 50 Afghan soldiers in firing exchange

The clash happened in Luqman and Jahangir, villages straddling the border.

Kashif Nabi, a local administrator in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province said the surveyor teams, which included military officers, arrived in the border villages on Monday and were working “amicably”.

Durani also claimed Pakistani “militias” were trying to cross the border. An Afghan government statement issued Sunday accused Pakistan of “unprovoked firing” Friday and Saturday.

Pakistan sealed the Friendship Gate at the Chaman border crossing for all kinds of transportation due to the firing.

“We are not happy over their losses since they are our Muslim brothers”, Anjum had said, according to Pakistani media outlet, Dawn.

Kabul quickly denied the claim.

General Aamir said that such attacks would not benefit Afghanistan in any way and the Afghan government should be ashamed of such type of imprudent acts.

Chaman is one of only two main border crossings from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

Shahzad reported from Islamabad. The dead included Frontier Corps personnel, five children and three women.

Ethnic Pashtuns living in the region have traditionally paid little heed to the border.

He said Pakistan is a sovereign country and has the right to take measures for protecting its national security.

Pakistan and Afghanistan military authorities have chose to determine geographical boundaries of their areas during the third flag meeting at the Bab-e-Dosti gate of the border on Sunday. Afghanistan has traditionally enjoyed better ties with Pakistan’s arch rival, India. They routinely get caught in the middle when tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalate.

The workers and their escorts were going door-to-door in villages along the border as part of a nationwide census, which began in March.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Nafeez Zakaria said that the census team “was fulfilling its duties in the area and the exercise was taking place within the jurisdiction of Pakistan”.

“The DGMO Pakistan Army told his counterpart that we shall continue our work within our border”, the army said.

He said Afghanistan did not positively respond to Pakistan’s efforts to improve relations in recent months.

“There is no movement of people and vehicles in the border areas”, an official of the Chaman administration said.

“There are over 20 unofficial crossings along the Afghan-Pakistani border which militants use to move between the two countries”, Wahid Muzhdah, a Kabul-based analyst on the Taliban and a former member of the group, told DW.

Khaama Press quoted Sediqi as saying that the claims are absolutely wrong and the Afghan government strongly rejects the claims.