An army officer was martyred on Saturday in cross-border firing in Rajgal, Khyber Agency, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Lieutenant Arsalan, 22, was deployed as the officer commanding the newly-established border post in Rajgal, Khyber Agency when he was hit by militant firing from across the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Lt Arsalan was the only brother of three sisters.

Earlier in May this year, at least 10 people, including women, children and a Frontier Corps (FC) man, were killed and 47 injured after Afghan border forces resorted to ‘unprovoked’ firing at Pakistani troops guarding a census team.

The incident occurred in the Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir villages of Chaman, which straddle the border and have been a source of controversy between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Kabul claims the villages are part of the war-torn country’s Spin Boldak district, an assertion Pakistan flatly denies.

Pakistani forces deployed in Chaman returned fire and injured two Afghan security officials. Both sides rushed reinforcements to the border and Pakistani authorities closed the Chaman crossing indefinitely once again. Pakistan had closed the border with Afghanistan for a month after a series of terrorist attacks across the country left around 100 people dead.