Pakistan on Friday said Afghan troops opened fire on its census team along the disputed border in Chaman, killing and wounding several of them, Reuters reported. Another report pegged the toll at nine. Afghanistan police, however, accused Pakistan of using the census as a smokescreen to conduct “malicious activities and provoke villagers” against the Kabul administration.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry summoned Afghanistan’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad to protest, calling the firing “unprovoked” and saying several people died, without specifying numbers. Kandahar province police spokesperson, Zia Durani, said, “They [Pakistani team] did not heed the warning and we have clear orders to engage them,” Reuters reported. Durrani said two Afghan border police personnel sustained injuries during the incident.

Pakistan’s military said the clashes broke out in a remote village near the border town of Chaman as the census team, guarded by troops from the Frontier Corps, was collecting population figures. “Afghan border police opens fire on population census team,” said Pakistan military’s media wing, adding that 18 people were wounded.

The Chaman crossing into Afghanistan’s Kandahar province is one of two main crossing points on the border. It was closed after the incident, Pakistani military spokesman Asif Ghafoor said in a statement. Pakistan is currently conducting the second phase of its first door-to-door population census in 19 years, with more than 1,00,000 enumerators and 2,00,000 troops taking part in the exercise.

Ties between the two countries have soured as Afghanistan believes Pakistan is giving refuge to Afghan Taliban militants. Islamabad, however, has denied this charge.