Authorities said that the clashes erupted between border forces over the dispute over repairing a fence in the Sheikh Lal Muhammad village near the border.

Thursday’s shelling came days after seven Pakistani civilians were killed in the cross-border shelling by the Taliban forces.

Amid the recent skirmishes, officials declared an emergency in state-run hospitals to provide medical aid to injured civilians and instructed people to stay away from the border area.

The fresh clashes come as U.S. CENTCOM chief General Erik Kurilla visited Pakistan and met with Army Chief General Asim Munir in Rawalpindi earlier today. The two military leaders discussed a range of issues, including regional stability and security cooperation. The military’s media wing said in a statement that Kurilla was also scheduled to visit the Torkham border near Afghanistan.

Officials said a befitting response was given by the Pakistani forces to the unprovoked shelling by the Afghan forces.

The latest violence follows a series of deadly incidents and attacks that have strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers in recent months.

Earlier this month, Pakistan’s Embassy in Kabul came under gunfire in an attack that was later claimed by the Islamic State group.