Saturday, October 11, 2014

IRAN - Pakistan’s failure to guard its borders is unacceptable

Four Iranian police officers, including a conscript, were killed on Wednesday and Thursday in two terrorist attacks on a border police station in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.
The tragic events took place near the city of Saravan near Iran’s border with Pakistan.
Following the attack, Iran’s police chief on Monday hit out at Pakistan saying “irresponsibility of a neighboring country” in guarding its borders is unjustified.
Ahmadi Moqaddam said if Pakistan is not able to arrest the terrorists, then Iran would “chase them beyond its borders”.
Three of the officers were killed when they, along with other patrol police forces, came under attack by armed bandits while on a mission in Saravan.
Following the incident, the police immediately blocked routes used by terrorists, which led to a shootout between the gunmen and police forces at a checkpoint.
In a surprise attack on the gunmen, a number of perpetrators were identified and arrested, which prompted them to fire rockets on a police station in Saravan. Another police officer was killed in the incident.
Earlier on Thursday, Ahmadi Moqaddam said it was “unacceptable” that Pakistan has turned into a safe haven for terrorists.
Hossein Rahimi, police chief of Sistan-Baluchestan province, also underscored that the police will use everything in their power to seriously confront thugs and armed bandits in the province.
Sistan-Baluchestan province has been the scene of a spate of terrorist attacks in recent years with gunmen crossing the border from neighboring Pakistan.
On February 6, Jaish-ul-Adl terrorists kidnapped five Iranian border guards in Jakigour region and took them to the Pakistani territory. Finally four of the abductees were freed and reunited with their families.
Earlier on October 25, 2013, Jaish-ul-Adl killed 14 Iranian border guards and wounded six others near Saravan.
In February 2013, Iran and Pakistan signed a security agreement under which both countries are required to cooperate in preventing and combating organized crime, fighting terrorism and countering the activities that pose a threat to the national security of either country.
Iran has repeatedly called on Pakistan to comply with the terms of the agreement.
Pakistan calls for reinvigoration of security cooperation with Iran.
On Friday, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam emphasized the need for both Tehran and Islamabad to focus on consolidating their intelligence and security cooperation to eradicate terrorist groups' threats in bordering areas.
She also condemned the Saravan terrorist attacks.

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