Killings of six civilians and a soldier spark blame game between Pakistan and Afghanistan

Pakistan says it retaliated to ‘indiscriminate fire’ while Afghanistan claims Islamabad objected to construction of checkpoint

Pakistan Afghanistan Border (AP)

Six civilians and one soldier were killed after cross-border firing took place between Afghanistan and Pakistan at the site of the second-largest commercial border point between the two south Asian neighbours.

Both countries traded blame for the killings and accused each other of opening fire at the border, which has been the flashpoint of tensions between the neighbours for decades.

Afghan Taliban border forces opened “unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons” including bombing and gunfire on civilian population, Pakistan’s military said on Sunday.