Afghan troops tore down a new anti-Taliban fence erected by Pakistani soldiers on the border between the two countries on Thursday, sparking a gun battle which caused no casualties, officials said. The clash was the first since Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf announced plans earlier this year to fence 35 kilometres of his country’s northwestern frontier to stop the movement of militants. The Afghan Defence Ministry said in a statement that the fighting happened between the Afghan border town of Shkin and Angoor Adda in Pakistan’s troubled tribal belt. A Pakistani military spokesman quoted by domestic ARY channel said Afghan forces “indulged in unprovoked firing” across the border into Pakistani territory. Pakistani forces returned fire after which the Afghan troops retreated, Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said, adding that Pakistan had reported the incident to the tripartite commission made up of senior military officials from Pakistan, NATO-led and Afghan forces. The Afghan statement said that Afghan forces first reached the area on Tuesday, after which Pakistani troops immediately stopped work on the barbed wire fence and pulled back. “But unfortunately, taking advantage of the darkness of the night, the Pakistani forces again erected fences overnight Wednesday,” the statement said. The statement said the Afghan government had begun diplomatic efforts to stop Pakistan fencing the border.