The Pakistani army announced that dozens of Afghan soldiers had infiltrated a border area in northwest Pakistan after Taliban fighters overran its border post, but the Afghan government denied the authenticity of the report, prompting Pakistan to publish a video of the intrusive soldiers.

The Pakistani army said in a statement on Monday that 46 members of the Afghan forces - including 5 officers - crossed the border late on Sunday near the Pakistani town of Chitral in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

"Afghan soldiers have been provided with food, shelter and necessary medical care in accordance with applicable military norms, and the Afghan authorities have been informed of the developments," the statement said.

For its part, the Afghan government denied that some of its forces had crossed into Pakistan. A spokesman for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, General Ajmal Omar Shinwari, said, "No Afghan military has sought refuge in Pakistan, and the sensitivity of all Afghans towards Pakistan - especially our army - is clear to everyone."

In response to the statements made by the Afghan general at a press conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the Pakistani army distributed early Tuesday morning a video of Afghan soldiers wearing military uniforms when they were received by Pakistani forces.

"The aforementioned soldiers have now amicably been returned to the Afghan authorities at their request along with their weapons and equipment, and Pakistan will continue to provide all kinds of support to our Afghan brothers in their time of need," the statement accompanying the video said.

Neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan provided information about the fighting on the Afghan side of the border, and the circumstances of the Afghan soldiers crossing the border, and the Pakistani army contented itself with denying the Afghan denial.

It is noteworthy that the Afghan Taliban fighters quickly seized large areas of land in recent weeks in Afghanistan, and took control of several strategic border crossings with several neighboring countries, and they are threatening a number of provincial capitals in conjunction with the completion of the last US and NATO soldiers ( NATO) announced their final withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Taliban are now reported to now control about half of Afghanistan's 419 district centers, and the rapid collapse of districts and the frustrated response by Afghan government forces have prompted US-allied warlords to revive the militias with a violent history.

It is noteworthy that relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been fraught with suspicion and mistrust, and relations deteriorated when Taliban fighters overran the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak with Pakistan earlier this month.

Afghan officials have accused Islamabad of providing sanctuary to the Taliban, as Afghan forces fight to retake Spin Boldak, and last week the United States launched air strikes to support Afghan forces in the southern city of Kandahar, about 100 kilometers west of Spin Boldak.

Kabul had previously recalled its ambassador and other diplomats from Islamabad after the 26-year-old daughter of the Afghan ambassador was brutally attacked in the Pakistani capital.

It is known that Pakistan is still hosting about two million Afghans as refugees since decades of war in Afghanistan.