A Pakistani paramilitary soldier was killed and three others injured in Iranian border guards firing, leading to tension on Iran-Pakistan border in Balochistan province.
Islamabad, Oct 18/Nationalturk – The tension is prevailing on border between Iran and Pakistan after killing of a Pakistani paramilitary soldier in Iranian border guards firing.
“A Pakistan paramilitary (Frontier Corps) soldier was killed and three others wounded on Friday when Iranian border guards fired on them in border area of Balochistan province,” a spokesman of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps (FC) said.
He said the paramilitary soldiers were chasing miscreants when they came under attack from Iranian forces.
“It was a targeted attack on Pakistani forces,” he said adding a paramilitary vehicle was also destroyed in the Iranian firing.
Iranian border guards fired for 6 hours
Sources said Iranian border guards continued firing on Pakistani troops for about six hours.
“It is a clear violation of our border and international law. It is also against a Pak-Iran border agreement,” the FC spokesperson said.
FC Inspector General Maj Gen Ejaz Shahid warned that Pakistani forces would retaliate against any Iranian incursion in the future. “Pakistani forces will respond to Iranian forces in the future, if they carry out any attack on Pakistani territory,” he said.
Iran’s Fars News Agency quoted Commander of Iranian Border Guards in the Southeastern Province of Sistan and Balouchestan region Brigadier General Rohambakhsh Habibi as saying that Iranian guards had received tips on the movement of a group of armed militants at the zero point of Iran-Pakistan borders and their intention to infiltrate into the Iranian soil.
“The brigade stopped outlaws infiltration. Many militants were killed and their vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunitions were also targeted in the operation,” he claimed and said two Iranian border guards, Javad Baqeri and Reza Barai, were also killed in the Friday clashes.
‘Don’t externalise your own problems’
Reacting to Iranian firing, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Tasnim Aslam asked Iran not to ‘externalise’ its problems and instead focus on fighting militancy at home.
“It is not helpful to externalise problems. We need to focus on eliminating terrorism from our countries,” she said.
She was responding to Iranian threat of hot pursuit of militants allegedly launching cross-border attacks on Iran’s border posts from their sanctuaries in Balochistan province of Pakistan.
The spokesperson asked Tehran to use the border management committee of the two countries for investigating the allegations.
“With Iran, we have mechanisms like the border management committee. We have mechanisms which can investigate such events as was done in the past when the Iranian guards were kidnapped and released inside Iran,” she added.
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