DHAKA: Bangladeshi military officials on Thursday accused Indian troops of killing four civilians after a clash a week ago that briefly forced the closure of a crossing point between the two countries.

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border guard operations commander Colonel Abdul Halim said most of those killed at different times over the past week were farmers who lived close to the frontier.

He said they were shot and killed in unprovoked attacks by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF).

Bangladesh lodged a formal protest with India over the killing of two of its border guards in the country’s northern Chapainawabganj district on July 17. Bangladeshi border guards returned fire in that incident, Halim said, killing one Indian guard.

Despite generally friendly relations, Indian and Bangladeshi border guards often exchange fire along their porous border which stretches 4,000 km through rice fields, hills, jungles, marshes and rivers.

India says its troops usually target smugglers and illegal migrants from Bangladesh, who sneak across the border, usually at night. Talks between Bangladeshi and Indian officials were held in Kolkata, capital of India’s West Bengal state, this week to try to resolve border disputes and other bilateral tensions.