Islamabad, Dec 6 (AHN) The Pakistani and Afghan forces engaged in a heavy exchange of fire along the border amid mounting tensions, with both sides accusing each other of igniting the clash, local media reported on Saturday.

The latest confrontation on late Friday comes after renewed efforts by Saudi Arabia to broker a ceasefire between Kabul and Islamabad, which reportedly failed to yield results.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the caretaker Afghan government, took to his social media platform, stating that Pakistan carried out attacks in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province in Afghanistan on Friday, triggering a response from the Afghan forces.

"Unfortunately, this evening the Pakistani side once again launched attacks towards Afghanistan in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar, prompting the Islamic Emirate forces to respond," Mujahid posted on X.

Citing a senior official in Quetta who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Pakistan's daily newspaper Dawn reported that an exchange of fire broke out around 10 p.m. on Friday and continued late into the night.

According to the medical superintendent of Pakistan's Chaman district hospital, Muhammad Owais, three people, including a woman, were brought in with injuries.

Earlier, negotiating teams from Afghanistan and Pakistan tried to address the issue in talks mediated by Turkey and Qatar, but failed to reach a consensus on the ways and means for a possible long-term truce.

The two nations share a volatile border, which has been witnessing heavy fighting for more than a month, with Islamabad allegedly resorting to multiple air raids inside Afghanistan.

Last week, the Taliban regime strongly condemned the Pakistani air strikes in the Afghan provinces of Paktika, Khost and Kunar, describing them as an infringement of the country's sovereignty and a violation of all internationally recognised norms.

The Afghan government said that at least 10 civilians, including nine children, were killed after Pakistani forces struck a residential area in Khost, while separate air strikes in Kunar and Paktika injured four civilians.

Following the attack, Afghan spokesperson Mujahid took to his social media platform, stressing that a necessary response would be taken at a proper time.

"The airstrikes carried out last night by Pakistani forces in Afghanistan's Paktika, Khost, and Kunar provinces constitute a direct assault on Afghanistan's sovereignty and a clear breach of internationally recognised norms and principles by the Pakistani authorities," Mujahid posted on X.

"These hostile actions by Pakistani forces achieve nothing; they only prove that operations driven by flawed intelligence inflame tensions and expose the ongoing failures of Pakistan's military regime," he added.