Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, while commenting on the Afghanistan border attack issue, said “firing on Pakistan was the initiative of Afghanistan that necessitated to be retaliated.”

The foreign affairs adviser maintained that that Pakistan has always used the diplomatic channels to resolve issues with its neighbours. “Afghanistan has been asked to use diplomatic channels instead of bullets,” he added.

“I feel sorry for what happened in Chaman,” said Aziz.

Commenting on the statement made by Afghanistan's top envoy to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal on Monday, where he rejected claims that Pakistani security forces had killed 50 Afghan soldiers in retaliation to the Chaman cross-border attack, Aziz said, “It is great if the Afghans suffered less damage, as claimed by the Afghan ambassador.”

Earlier, the head of the Iranian armed forces had warned Islamabad that Tehran would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront militants who carry out cross-border attacks.

Commenting on this, Aziz said that the government has “asked Iran to provide information regarding terrorists”.

On Sunday, Inspector General (IG) Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan Maj Gen Nadeem Anjum had claimed that 50 Afghan security personnel were killed and another 100 injured as Pakistani forces retaliated to unprovoked firing by Afghan border forces on security personnel in Balochistan's Chaman area last week.

The FC Balochistan chief said four or five check posts were also destroyed when Pakistani border guards retaliated to the cross-border attack, adding that Afghanistan pleaded for ceasefire on May 5, which Pakistan accepted.