"We informed the governor that we are in a critical situation and that there is a frontline between us and the Pakistanis," Khost corps commander Khial Baz Khan told AFP by telephone.

"We're still waiting for the command from the central administration" to attack the Pakistanis, he said.

Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid denied the allegations.

"There was no cross-border incursion. There is no truth in the allegation," Rashid told AFP.

"Pakistan supports the Hamid Karzai government in the brotherly country and we desire this government to be successful and prosperous. We will continue to support this government," he said.

Khost commander Khan claimed 600-800 Pakistani forces had crossed the border into Afghanistan.

"Yesterday in the afternoon at 12:30 (0800 GMT) Pakistani militia and Fauj (regular troops) went into the village of Ghulamkhan," he said.

"They wanted to destroy everything using bulldozers. Eight Pakistanis were injured and four villagers were seized by the Pakistanis," he said.

Afghan forces arrested two injured Pakistanis, who were being treated and questioned, he said, adding there were no Afghan casualties.

Pakistani forces were still two-three kilometres inside Afghan territory Thursday evening, he said.

Khan said the clashes erupted when Pakistani forces tried to stop Afghan villagers digging a well.

Interior Minster Ali Ahmad Jalali earlier said Afghan border forces had clashed with Pakistani militias.

"Last night there was a report from the police forces in Khost area that Pakistani militias crossed the border in Ghulamkhan village and there was an encounter with government border forces," Jalali told reporters at a press conference.

"The Pakistani militia, they say, entered five kilometres inside Afghan territory and after a counteroffensive by border forces they retreated across the border," he said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties but Jalali said the situation remained tense at the border village.

The sensitive issue of cross-border security will be on the agenda when Afghan President Hamid Karzai visits Pakistan next Tuesday for a one-day visit, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said Wednesday.

Suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists regularly launch attacks on government and US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. US and pro-government militia forces say that some extremists cross over the long and porous border with Pakistan to carry out attacks.

There have been a recent series of attacks on foreign and government targets in the southern and eastern border regions by suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda hideouts.

Pakistan was a former supporter of the Taliban regime before it joined Washington's "war on terror" following the September 11, 2001 attacks masterminded by the militia's "guest," al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Pakistani foreign ministry officials said Karzai will hold talks with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali.

The talks will focus on bilateral issues, reconstruction of Afghanistan and repatriation of some 1.5 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

SPACE.WIRE