PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan closed a key northwestern border crossing with Afghanistan after border guards from the two sides exchanged fire Wednesday, while elsewhere near the border in northern Pakistan clashes killed four Pakistani soldiers and 12 militants, authorities said.
Separately, mortar fire hit a house in Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing five Pakistanis -- a mother and her four children. It was not immediately clear who fired the mortar and police were investigating the attack in the North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local authorities said.
