A key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been closed after a confrontation between soldiers from both countries. Efforts are now on to reopen the border crossing linking the Pakistani town of Chaman with Spin Boldak in Afghanistan. Both sides have accused each other of beating up their soldiers and the atmosphere remains tense, reports say. The Chaman-Spin Boldak border point is one of the two main crossing points along the porous border. An Afghan police official, Haji Abdul Wasai, told the Associated Press news agency that about a dozen Afghan soldiers fought with some 15 to 20 Pakistani troops at the border on Thursday. Three of the Afghans were hurt he said. But a Pakistani official accused the Afghan soldiers of detaining one of their soldiers and beating him. \"The soldier was released late last night but he was badly thrashed,\" the unnamed Pakistani army official was quoted as saying by Reuters. In October, a woman and a child died at the border crossing when a bomb exploded. Tens of thousands of Afghan and Pakistani soldiers are deployed along the border as part of the hunt for al-Qaeda rebels and fighters belonging to the former Taleban regime. (BBC)