Iran Urges Joint Operation:
Pakistan Says Searching for Iranian Border Guards
ISLAMABAD/TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has told his Iranian counterpart that security forces are searching for 14 Iranian border guards who were abducted by terrorists this week.
In a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif on Thursday, Qureshi expressed his serious concern over the incident, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal said at a weekly news briefing.
"Qureshi said that such incidents are the handiwork of our common enemies unhappy with the existing close friendly relations between Pakistan and Iran," Faisal said.
Iranian media reported that two of those abducted were members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit. The rest reportedly included seven volunteers in the Basij force, as well as regular Iranian border guards.
The two ministers also discussed an exchange of fire between Afghan and Pakistani security forces on the Chaman border, Faisal said.
Faisal said top army generals of Pakistan and Iran are in close contact to coordinate their search efforts for the missing guards. Those efforts include enhanced air surveillance and troop deployment in the border area where the incident took place.
Tehran says the 14 members of its border force were seized on October 16 near the border with Pakistan. Jaish al-Adl, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group, is suspected of being behind the kidnap.
A Jaish al-Adl terrorist confirmed to Reuters that the group attacked a border post in Mirjaveh.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya television cited another terrorist member as saying that the group "may kill some soldiers" but suggesting at the same time that it may release them in a prisoner swap.
Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli called for immediate joint operation with Pakistan to secure the release of the Iranian soldiers.
In a letter to his Pakistani counterpart, Fazli urged Islamabad to fully honor its obligations under bilateral security agreements which require Pakistan to prevent attacks targeting Iranian border posts from the Pakistani side.
The embassy of Pakistan voiced deep regret over the abduction of Iranian border guards near the Pakistan-Iran border point of Mirjaveh, saying "Pakistan condemns all incidents of terrorism and is committed to cooperation with Iran in retrieving its guards."
In a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif on Thursday, Qureshi expressed his serious concern over the incident, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal said at a weekly news briefing.
"Qureshi said that such incidents are the handiwork of our common enemies unhappy with the existing close friendly relations between Pakistan and Iran," Faisal said.
Iranian media reported that two of those abducted were members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit. The rest reportedly included seven volunteers in the Basij force, as well as regular Iranian border guards.
The two ministers also discussed an exchange of fire between Afghan and Pakistani security forces on the Chaman border, Faisal said.
Faisal said top army generals of Pakistan and Iran are in close contact to coordinate their search efforts for the missing guards. Those efforts include enhanced air surveillance and troop deployment in the border area where the incident took place.
Tehran says the 14 members of its border force were seized on October 16 near the border with Pakistan. Jaish al-Adl, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group, is suspected of being behind the kidnap.
A Jaish al-Adl terrorist confirmed to Reuters that the group attacked a border post in Mirjaveh.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya television cited another terrorist member as saying that the group "may kill some soldiers" but suggesting at the same time that it may release them in a prisoner swap.
Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli called for immediate joint operation with Pakistan to secure the release of the Iranian soldiers.
In a letter to his Pakistani counterpart, Fazli urged Islamabad to fully honor its obligations under bilateral security agreements which require Pakistan to prevent attacks targeting Iranian border posts from the Pakistani side.
The embassy of Pakistan voiced deep regret over the abduction of Iranian border guards near the Pakistan-Iran border point of Mirjaveh, saying "Pakistan condemns all incidents of terrorism and is committed to cooperation with Iran in retrieving its guards."