LANDI KOTAL, Dec 28: In a tit-for-tat response, Afghan police subjected two Pakistani truck drivers to severe torture near Kabul after a group of Afghan passengers were meted a similar treatment by some unidentified people near Torkham border on Pakistani side on Thursday.

Pakistani security guards on Friday closed the border crossing for second time in a week to register their protest against what they called the illegitimate treatment of Afghan police with Pakistani nationals in Afghanistan. The closure of border also effectively stopped all supplies to Afghanistan and entry of thousands of Afghan nationals into Pakistan.

Pakistan Army official Col Mushtaq told reporters at Torkham that the border was closed after two truck drivers named Yar Khan and Lal Gul reported to them about maltreatment meted out to them by the Afghan police at Pul-i-Charkhi checkpost near the capital Kabul.

He said that the Afghan police also snatched money from the drivers and tore down their travel documents. He said that the incident had been reported to the foreign office in Islamabad and the border was not reopened despite repeated requests and an apology by the Afghan border officials. The border remained closed for the whole day on Friday.

Sources said that two minor Afghan children whose families were stranded in the traffic due to the border closure died of extreme cold.

The beating incident was second of its type in last two days. Some unidentified persons had beaten up a group of Afghan nationals after they were disembarked from taxi cabs at the Pakistani side of Torkham border. Pakistani officials claimed to have arrested five of the attackers, but declined to disclose their identity.

Earlier, on December 22 Pakistan closed the border for a day after a group of 29 Pakistani labourers complained about torture and snatching of their passports by Afghan police in Kabul.

The border was reopened the same day after an assurance by the Afghan government about a detailed investigation into the alleged torture by their police.