Pakistani paramedics give treatment to an injured man at a hospital following cross-border firing, in southwest Pakistan's Quetta, on May 5, 2017. Pakistan army said on Friday that border with Afghanistan in Chaman area has been closed after three Pakistanis were killed by "unprovoked" firing from the Afghan side, while 18 others were injured. (Xinhua/Asad)
ISLAMABAD, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan army said on Friday that border with Afghanistan in Chaman area has been closed after three Pakistanis were killed by "unprovoked" firing from the Afghan side, while 18 others were injured.
The army spokesman said the Afghan Border Police "opened fire" on the Pakistani border forces Frontier Corps (FC) in charge of security of a population census team in southwestern Balochistan Province.
A senior health official in the province, Akhtar, said death toll from the cross-border firing reached three, and a woman is among the dead.
Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor had said earlier in a statement that one civilian was killed and 18 individuals, including four FC soldiers were injured.
He said Pakistan closed the Chaman border, one of the major crossing points with Afghanistan. Locals said hundreds of trucks with transit goods were stuck up on both sides of the border.
The Pakistani spokesman said that Afghan Border Police had been "creating hurdles" in conduct of census in divided villages of Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir in Chaman area, on Pakistani side of the border.
Earlier Pakistani media quoted local forces as saying that the injured include two women and six children. The injured were shifted to a hospital by ambulances of FC. TV footage showed inured were being treated at a local hospital.
The incident happened days after two high level Pakistani delegation of army and intelligence officials visited Afghanistan this week for discussions on security issues, focusing on border management.
Pakistan insists for effective border security to check illegal movement for militants.
