Five people have been killed and five more injured in two attacks launched from neighbouring Afghanistan over the past week, Tajikistan's presidential press service said on Monday.

Tajikistan, a mountainous former Soviet republic of around 11 million people with a secular government, has tense relations with the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.

Tajik authorities, who have previously warned of drug smugglers and illicit gold miners working along the remote frontier, said last week that three Chinese citizens had been killed in a drone attack launched from Afghanistan.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon's press service said that Rahmon had met with the heads of his security agencies to discuss the situation and ways to strengthen border security.

It said that Rahmon "strongly condemned the illegal and provocative actions of Afghan citizens and ordered that effective measures be taken to resolve the problem and prevent a recurrence of such incidents."

Also Read: 3 Chinese nationals killed in Tajikistan attack from Afghanistan

There was no immediate response from the authorities in Afghanistan to a comment request about the Tajik statement.

Last week, three Chinese nationals had died in an attack on a Chinese company’s camp in Tajikistan. The incident took place on the night of November 26 in the Khatlon region and the Tajik Embassy in Kuwait confirmed the deaths. The embassy said that militant groups active on Afghan soil carried out the attack. It said that cross-border militant operations from Afghanistan continued, and Tajikistan lodged a strong protest.

According to the embassy, Tajikistan maintained efforts to keep peace along the border with Afghanistan, yet groups based in Afghanistan did not cease their assaults.

The embassy called on the Afghan interim government to take effective and practical measures to secure the border and to halt militant activity.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has expressed deep sorrow and strong condemnation over the killing of Chinese citizens in Tajikistan.