Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said at a press conference on Monday that there was a need for bilateral dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan to settle disputes.

This comes in the wake of recent cross-Durand Line tensions where border forces opened fire on each other in Chaman in Spin Boldak. At least three Afghans, including two soldiers and a civilian, were killed.

Aziz said the incident was unfortunate but that Pakistan responded to the firing from across the border.

Pakistan officials maintain that more than 50 Afghan soldiers were killed in the incident but Afghan officials have rejected this outright.

In reference to this, Aziz said at the press conference that “we are not happy over their losses since they are our Muslim brothers”.

Kandahar's police Chief General Abdul Raziq and Afghan Government Media and Information Center (GMIC) head Sediq Sediqqi rejected Pakistan’s claims regarding the killing of 52 Afghan soldiers in the border clash.

Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal said that in the recent clash with Pakistani border forces in Spin Boldak only two police and one civilian were killed and a number of others were wounded.

On Sunday however, Raziq warned Pakistan of dire consequences if a diplomatic solution is not found to ease tensions along the border.

This comes just days after military forces from the two countries engaged in a fierce battle over the village of Luqman inside Afghan territory.