LONDON, October 13. /TASS/. Pakistan has put troops on high alert on the border with Afghanistan after violent armed clashes late last week in various border provinces of the Islamic Republic.

Reuters reported citing Pakistani security forces that all crossings on the 2,600-kilometer frontier between the two countries have been closed, and cross-border trade has been completely stopped. "All entry points are closed since Saturday following unprovoked attacks by the Afghan Taliban forces," a senior Pakistani security official told Reuters.

A second security official said there were a few instances of small arms fire being exchanged on Sunday night but the overall situation was calm.

Enayatullah Khowarazmi, Afghanistan's defense ministry spokesperson, told Reuters that the "current situation" on the border was normal but did not share details.

Earlier, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan's retaliatory strikes against terrorist groups in Afghanistan are defensive and not directed against civilians.

On October 11, shootings took place in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. Later, the Afghan Air Force attacked the Pakistani city of Lahore. Taliban officials did not provide details of the operation. The Afghan TV channel TOLO News claimed that at least 58 Pakistani soldiers were killed during the clashes. Islamabad announced the elimination of at least 200 militants, the destruction of 19 terrorist targets in Afghanistan from which attacks were carried out, and a strike on the headquarters of an Afghan tank battalion providing support to the extremists attacking Pakistan.