Afghanistan returns bodies of Pak soldiers killed in clash

Pakistan today said Afghan authorities have returned the bodies of five of its paramilitary soldiers who were killed in a border clash this week.

Pakistan's Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Frontier Corps (FC) troops deployed along Pak-Afghan border at Kurram area came under fire from the Afghan side last Sunday while they were on routine patrolling and fencing activity on the border.

"The Afghan border security forces, assisted by Afghan tribesmen, fired on our troops resulting in 'shahadat' (martyrdom) of five soldiers," he said.

Faisal said that the Afghan border forces and tribesmen also got hold of the bodies of the killed troops and detained one soldier.

"As there were a large number of tribesmen on the Afghan side, our troops exercised utmost restraint to avoid civilian casualties. Our side, via diplomatic and military channels immediately engaged the Afghan authorities to hold border flag meeting to help resolve the situation," he said.

According to Faisal, a border flag meeting was held between commanders of the two forces and the situation was amicably defused.

"The Afghan side handed over bodies of five Pakistani FC personnel and the detained sepoy to Pakistan," he said.

The two sides also emphasised on the need for further enhancing border coordination to avoid recurrence of such incidents in the future, he said.