The interior minister of Afghanistan, Ali Ahmad Jalali, has said that Afghan border forces clashed overnight with Pakistani militiamen who, he said, had intruded into the southeastern province of Khost. Mr Jalali said the encounter took place around the border village of Gulam Khan, south of the town of Khost. He quoted the local police as saying that Pakistani militiamen penetrated five kilometres into Afghanistan before being forced out by Afghan border forces. Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment. The incident comes days before a state visit to Pakistan by Afghanistan\'s President, Hamid Karzai. Correspondents say that the worsening security situation on the border will be high on his agenda. Clashes along Pakistan\'s border with Afghanistan, which critics say was demarcated arbitarily by the former colonial power, Great Britain, are not uncommon. (BBC)