At least six killed in firing by Afghan forces on Pakistan border

Heavy gunfire and artillery shelling by Afghan border forces have killed six civilians across the border in Pakistan and wounded another 17, the Pakistan army said.

The latest violence hitting Chaman in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday follows a series of deadly incidents and attacks that have skyrocketed tensions with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. Chaman is the main border crossing for trade between the countries.

Pakistani troops retaliated at the Chaman border crossing, the army statement said, without giving details of any losses on the other side.

The Pakistan army statement said: "Afghan Border Forces opened unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons including artillery/mortar onto the civilian population."

It termed the incident an "uncalled for aggression" and said Pakistani troops had given a befitting response while avoiding targeting civilians on the other side.

In Kandahar, the province on the Afghan side of the border, a spokesperson for the governor, Ataullah Zaid, appeared to link the clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces with the construction of new checkpoints on the Afghan side of the border. 

He said one Taliban fighter was killed, and 10 were wounded. Three civilians were also injured, he added.

Afghan official Noor Ahmad, in Kandahar, the province on the Afghan side of the border, said the incident was accidental, and the situation had returned to normal after both sides had a meeting. He gave no further details.

Pakistan had also approached Kabul to highlight the severity of the situation and demand strict action to avoid recurrence of the incident, the army said.

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Chain of violence 

A doctor with a government-run hospital in Chaman, Akhtar Mohammad, told The Associated Press that live rounds injured 27 people who were brought into the hospital for treatment. Of these, six died, and seven were in critical condition.

A resident on Pakistan's side of the border, Wali Mohammad took his wounded cousin to the hospital in Chaman. He said there were a number of explosions followed by rapid gunfire.

“We were in the street like any other day off when suddenly a big explosion was heard and debris hit many people, including one of my cousins,” said Mohammad.

A deadly shooting in November shuttered the border at Chaman for eight days, causing heavy commercial losses and leaving thousands of people stranded on both sides.

Later in the month, Pakistan's embassy in Kabul came under gunfire.

Pakistani officials called the incident an attack on its envoy there and blamed Afghan officials for the security breach.