Pakistan Army Says It Killed 50 Afghan Soldiers in Border Fight

Both the armies have been clashing at the border crossing in southwestern Baluchistan province since Friday.

A Pakistani border security guard stands alert at Pakistan-Afghanistan border post, Chaman in Pakistan. (File photo: AP)

The Pakistani army said on Sunday that it has destroyed at least five Afghan checkpoints near the border between the two countries, killing about 50 security personnel.

Maj Gen Nadeem Ahmad told reporters on Sunday at the Chaman border crossing that two of his soldiers were also killed and another nine were wounded.

The Pakistani and Afghan armies have been clashing at the border crossing in southwestern Baluchistan province since Friday.

Officials in Islamabad said the fighting began after Afghan security forces fired on Pakistani census workers and the troops escorting them, killing nine civilians and wounding 42, including women and children.

Pakistan and Afghanistan routinely accuse each other of providing sanctuaries to their enemy insurgents – which both sides deny.