KABUL, Feb 6 (KUNA) -- Afghan policemen "mistakenly" gunned down seven boys in the border region with the neighbouring Pakistan on Saturday, officials here said.
The boys were collecting firewood in Spin Boldak district, the border town of Afghanistan's Kandahar province joining border with Balochistan province of the neighbouring Pakistan.
Police chief of the border region Abdul Raziq told journalists that the policemen guarding the volatile region mistook the young boys for insurgents and opened fire at them killing all the seven on the spot.
He said the police accused of killing the boys had been taken into custody and investigated at the moment.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan usually remain tense over the border crossing of Taliban between the two countries.
While the Afghan government accuse Pakistani intelligence agencies of supporting Taliban and helping them cross into Afghanistan to carry out attacks, the latter argues that it is itself a victim of terrorism and the increasing number of attacks in its cities and towns and killing of dozens of civilians and military people in the attacks was a proof of that.
In recent weeks, both the neighbours have initiated peace efforts to bring the reconcilable Taliban to the negotiation table with the Afghan government. - Kuna