ISLAMABAD - Pakistan says cross-border fire from Afghanistan Sunday killed two Pakistani paramilitary soldiers and wounded five others.

A military spokesman said its personnel were conducting routine "surveillance" in the remote Kurram region “to plug gaps and make necessary preparations to start fencing” the border when they came under attack from the other side.

FILE - Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Gha FILE - Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor. FILE - Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor.

Army spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor said an “engagement” between military officials of the two countries “is underway to defuse [the] situation.”

Pakistani troops, he added, are “exercising maximum restraint” to avoid any Afghan civilian casualties on the other side of the border.

Earlier, a regional Afghan police chief told VOA the clashes broke out along the Zazi Maidan border district in southeastern province of Khost adjacent to Kurram.

General Abdul Hanan Zadran claimed two Pakistani border forces were killed and several others were wounded. He confirmed one Afghan civilian fatality on his side but local media reported the death of at least two Afghan border forces while several others were wounded.

Pakistani army spokesman Ghafoor told VOA it was not clear whether Afghan military or border police forces initiated the cross-border fire "because there is no Afghan border post in the near vicinity.”



Pakistan and Afghanistan share a nearly 2,600-kilometer largely porous border. The Pakistani military has recently started constructing a robust fence on the border in its bid to prevent illegal crossings in either direction.

Afghan authorities oppose Pakistani plans of fencing the frontier because Kabul disputes the former British era demarcation.

The Afghan government earlier this month accused Pakistan of conducting airstrikes and firing hundreds of shells in their eastern border province of Kunar, charges Islamabad rejected.



Pakistani officials maintain that fugitive militants hiding in “ungoverned” Afghan border areas plot terrorist attacks against the country and military forces are conducting operations inside their own territory to deter such attacks.

Islamabad maintains fencing of the border will help address mutual concerns of illegal terrorist infiltration.

Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of sheltering and helping Taliban insurgents, charges Pakistani officials deny.</s>PARACHINAR: Two Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border fire from Afghanistan while working on a fence intended to cover nearly all of the disputed 2,500 km border separating the countries, the Pakistani military said on Sunday.

 Though security has improved in Pakistan’s remote areas bordering Afghanistan, sectarian militant attacks, primarily targeting Shiite Muslims, still occur.

 “Pakistani troops are exercising maximum restraint so as to avoid any Afghan civilian casualties,” the Pakistan Army’s public relations department said, adding that five soldiers were wounded in the attack.

 Afghan officials said that Pakistani troops crossed on to Afghan soil, prompting a response by border forces and the local tribal force.

 “Two tribesmen were killed and the exchange of fire is ongoing,” said Mohmud Zazai, a senior army commander in the area.

 Pakistan has blamed Pakistani Taliban militants it says are based on Afghan soil for attacks that have taken place in the region over the past two years, urging Kabul to eradicate “sanctuaries” for militants.

 Afghanistan, in turn, accuses Islamabad of sheltering the leadership of the Afghan Taliban militants who are battling the Western-backed government in Kabul.

 A local political official, who asked not to be identified, said that Pakistani security forces had responded on Sunday by opening fire along the border. — Reuters</s>Afghan troops with Pakistani forces met in clash near the disputed border on Sunday, results killed two Pakistani paramilitaries and injured five others, officials said.

Pakistan’s military said in a statement that the Frontier Corps was carrying out time regulated surveillance along the border when it was “fired upon from the Afghanistan side.” It said the paramilitaries showed prevent maximum to avoid civilian casualties, and that “military engagement” is underway to solve the situation.

Col. Abdul Hanan, the acting provincial police chief in Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province, said the fighting broke out after Pakistani forces violated the cross line of Afghanistan.

The two countries are separated by the 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) Durand Line, by British rulers in 1896. Afghanistan does not recognize it as an international border and has objected to new fortifications being built by Pakistan.</s>Several people have lost their lives after a cross-border gunfight broke out between Afghan and Pakistani security forces, amid simmering tensions between the militancy-plagued neighbors, officials from both countries say.

According to Hanan Zadran, the acting police chief for Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost, at least one Afghan civilian and two Pakistani security forces were killed on Sunday morning in the clash, which occurred in Zazi Maidan district, neighbor to Pakistan’s western Kurram Agency.

He added that the bodies of the two Pakistanis were found on the Afghan side of the border near Pakistan's tribal belt along the Durand Line, a 2,400-kilometer frontier drawn by the British in 1896, as it separates the Pashtun ethnic group between the two countries.

However, Afghanistan's Tolo News, citing the 203rd Thunder Corps commander, General Shaur Gul, reported that three Pakistani soldiers had been killed, and three others arrested. He also claimed that the skirmish broke out when Pakistani troopers started shooting at a check post close to Jandighar area in Zazi Maidan district.

Khost provincial governor spokesman Talib Mangal, while confirming the deadly clash, said that two Afghan civilians and four Pakistani troops had lost their lives in the incident.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Geo News reported that two officials of the country’s Frontier Corps (FC) had been killed and five others sustained injuries in the cross-border gunfight.

The Pakistani military also said in a statement that the two members of its paramilitary FC were “carrying out routine surveillance” along the Durand Line when they were “fired upon from Afghanistan.”

Kabul has repeatedly accused Islamabad of providing safe havens for the Afghan Taliban terror group, which has been engaged in an insurgency in Afghanistan for more than 16 years. Islamabad, however, strongly rejects the accusation, saying that the outfit is targeting Pakistani forces and civilians on the Afghan side of the border.

Pakistan and Afghanistan regularly accuse each other of sheltering their enemy insurgents. The two sides also accuse each other of not doing enough to stop militants engaging in cross-border raids.</s>The border fence outside Kitton outpost on border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan

Though security has improved in Pakistan's remote areas bordering Afghanistan, sectarian militant attacks still occur.

"Pakistani troops are exercising maximum restraint so as to avoid any Afghan civilian casualties," the Pakistan Army's public relations department said, adding that five soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Afghan officials said that Pakistani troops crossed on to Afghan soil, prompting a response by border forces and the local tribal force.

"Two tribesmen were killed and the exchange of fire is ongoing," said Mohmud Zazai, a senior army commander in the area.

Pakistan has blamed Pakistani ‘Taliban’ militants it says are based on Afghan soil for attacks that have taken place in the region over the past two years, urging Kabul to eradicate "sanctuaries" for militants.

Afghanistan, in turn, accuses Islamabad of sheltering the leadership of the Afghan Taliban militants who are battling the Western-backed government in Kabul.

A local political official, who asked not to be identified, said that Pakistani security forces had responded on Sunday by opening fire along the border.</s>PARACHINAR, Pakistan: Two Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border fire from Afghanistan while working on a fence intended to cover nearly all of the disputed 2,500km border separating the countries, the Pakistani military said on Sunday.

Though security has improved in Pakistan's remote areas bordering Afghanistan, sectarian militant attacks, primarily targeting Shi'ite Muslims, still occur.

"Pakistani troops are exercising maximum restraint so as to avoid any Afghan civilian casualties," the Pakistan Army's public relations department said, adding that five soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Afghan officials said that Pakistani troops crossed on to Afghan soil, prompting a response by border forces and the local tribal force.

"Two tribesmen were killed and the exchange of fire is ongoing," said Mohmud Zazai, a senior army commander in the area.

Pakistan has blamed Pakistani Taliban militants it says are based on Afghan soil for attacks that have taken place in the region over the past two years, urging Kabul to eradicate "sanctuaries" for militants.

Afghanistan, in turn, accuses Islamabad of sheltering the leadership of the Afghan Taliban militants who are battling the Western-backed government in Kabul.

A local political official, who asked not to be identified, said that Pakistani security forces had responded on Sunday by opening fire along the border.

Mosques in Pakistan's Kurram Agency region, where the attack took place, made announcements urging locals to assist the armed forces, prompting throngs of armed civilians to arrive at the border after the attack.

Kurram has been plagued by militancy over the past decade and was the location of many U.S. drone strikes targeting commanders from al Qaeda and other militant groups.

Twin blasts in Kurram's most populous town, Parachinar, killed more than 75 people in June.

In a separate incident on Sunday in Pakistan's North Waziristan district, which also borders Afghanistan, a security forces vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device 15km from district capital Miranshah, a military official said.

A curfew has been imposed in the area, with security officials carrying out a search operation.

North Waziristan was a Taliban stronghold until 2014, when Pakistan's military launched a major offensive against the group and pushed many of its fighters across the border into Afghanistan.</s>Afghan troops clashed with Pakistani forces near the disputed border on Sunday, in fighting that killed two Pakistani paramilitaries and wounded five others, officials said.

Pakistan's military said in a statement that the Frontier Corps was carrying out "routine surveillance" along the border when it was "fired upon from the Afghanistan side." It said the paramilitaries showed "maximum restraint" to avoid civilian casualties, and that "military engagement" is underway to defuse the situation.

Col. Abdul Hanan, interim chief of the Afghan National Police, said clashes broke out in the morning when Pakistani border forces allegedly opened fire at Afghan villages in Zazi Maiden district along the Durand Line.

According to Hanan, two Pakistani guards were arrested.

The two countries are separated by the 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) Durand Line, which was drawn by British rulers in 1896. Afghanistan does not recognize it as an international border and has objected to new fortifications being built by Pakistan.

The two U.S. allies routinely accuse each other of failing to crack down on militants who operate along the porous border. Khost province lies next to the restive tribal belt in Pakistan.</s>Afghanistan reported deadly border skirmishes with Pakistan Sunday but it was not known immediately who initiated the fire.

A regional Afghan police chief told VOA the clashes erupted early morning along the Zazi Maidan border district in southeastern province of Khost and that the exchange of fire was ongoing.

General Abdul Hanan Zadran claimed two Pakistani border forces and an Afghan civilian were killed. Several others were wounded.

Pakistan military spokesman, Major-General Asif Ghafoor, told VOA that “there is some exchange of fire.”

He added it was not clear whether Afghan military or border police forces were firing at Pakistani positions because “there is no Afghan border post in the near vicinity.”

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a nearly 2,600-kilometer largely porous border. The Pakistani military has recently started constructing a robust fence on the border in its bid to prevent illegal crossings in either direction.

Afghan officials earlier this month accused Pakistan of conducting airstrikes and firing hundreds of shells in their eastern border province of Kunar, charges Islamabad rejected.

Pakistani officials maintain that fugitive militants hiding in “ungoverned” Afghan border areas plot terrorist attacks against the country and military forces are conducting operations inside their own territory to deter such attacks.</s>KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan troops clashed with Pakistani forces near the disputed border on Sunday, in fighting that killed two Pakistani paramilitaries and wounded five others, officials said.

Pakistan's military said in a statement that the Frontier Corps was carrying out "routine surveillance" along the border when it was "fired upon from the Afghanistan side." It said the paramilitaries showed "maximum restraint" to avoid civilian casualties, and that "military engagement" is underway to defuse the situation.

Col. Abdul Hanan, the acting provincial police chief in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, said the fighting broke out after Pakistani forces crossed into Afghanistan.

The two countries are separated by the 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) Durand Line, which was drawn by British rulers in 1896. Afghanistan does not recognize it as an international border and has objected to new fortifications being built by Pakistan.

The two U.S. allies routinely accuse each other of failing to crack down on militants who operate along the porous border.</s>Troops from the Afghan border police and Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps clashed near the two countries' disputed border, leaving several dead and wounded on both sides, Afghan and Pakistani officials said.

Afghan security officials told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on April 15 in the country's eastern province of Khost that six Pakistani paramilitary troops were killed in the clash in the Zazi Maidan district.

Pakistani officials told Reuters that two Pakistani soldiers were killed.

An Afghan border police officer and a local tribesman were also killed and two other Afghans were injured.

Abdul Hanan, the acting provincial police chief in Khost, told RFE/RL that clashes broke out in three locations along the border in the early hours of the day after Pakistani paramilitary troops ignored repeated warnings from locals and Afghan border police officers and crossed the border.

"First they targeted locals who were trying to stop them from entering our soil, and then they fired mortars on our border police," Hanan said.

Hanan's claims could not be independently verified.

A statement by Pakistan's military said the Afghan side fired on the Frontier Corps fighters while they were carrying out "routine surveillance" along the border.

The statement said two paramilitary troops were injured.

Afghanistan routinely accuses the Pakistani Army of attacking civilians and security checkpoints on the disputed border, accusations Pakistan routinely denies.

Pakistan claims it is subject to attacks by Pakistani Taliban militants that Islamabad says are based on the Afghan side of the border.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa
Afghan and Pakistani forces exchange cross-border fire on the Durand Line, killing two Pakistan Army troops and injuring five others.