CHITRAL: Pakistani soldiers killed 30 Afghan militants who had crossed the border to attack the army, Pakistani military officials said on Monday.

The raid on Sunday night by a group of more than 200 Afghans could further damage an already difficult relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which often accuse each other of failing to halt cross-border operations by militants.

One Pakistani soldier was killed and four were wounded in the latest frontier incident, which lasted close to an hour, the Pakistani officials said. There was no independent confirmation of the number of militants killed.

“The attack happened in the Barawal area of Upper Dir. Pakistani forces retaliated and the intruders slipped back,” said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Barawal is around 200 km northwest of the capital Islamabad.