On 5 May 2017, an armed skirmish occurred after Afghan forces attacked a Pakistani census team in Chaman, in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan.

[7] In March, 32 days after it was closed, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the reopening of the Afghanistan–Pakistan border as a "goodwill gesture".

[10] On 5 April, an Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman said Kabul might resort to military action if diplomacy failed to resolve the border fencing issue.

An Afghan foreign ministry spokesman claimed the villages were located in Spin Boldak District on their side of the Durand Line disputed by Afghanistan, identifying them as Luqman and Haji Nazar.

He asserted: "The Chaman clash left casualties, deaths and injured on Pakistan side too but we, instead of celebrating, called it unfortunate and regrettable.

"[22] A spokesman for Kandahar police told Reuters that the Pakistani team were using the census as cover for "malicious activities and to provoke villagers against the government".

[25] The Inspector-General of Pakistan's Frontier Corps, Major-General Nadeem Ahmed, said that Afghan forces had intruded into Pakistani territory and taken positions by occupying houses there.

He said the Afghans had targeted civilian populations and used villagers as human shields, but they retreated from their positions after Pakistani forces launched an assault.

[15] He also added that Pakistan's international border was "non-negotiable and no compromise will be made on it", and that the Afghan aggression was a result of their government's collusion with India.

It was agreed that a joint geological (sic) or geodetic survey would be carried out to demarcate the border area, and that Google Maps would be considered for this purpose.