Border violation: Iranian cross-border firing kills FC official, injures three others
By
Shezad Baloch /
AFP
Published: October 17, 2014
QUETTA: A Frontier Corps (FC) soldier was killed and three others were critically wounded by unprovoked firing by Iranian border guards inside Pakistani territory in Tehsil Mand area – a town bordering Pakistan with Iran.
“A soldier embraced martyrdom and three other personnel were wounded,” an FC spokesperson said in a statement issued on Friday evening.
“The FC personnel were chasing miscreants when they came under attack by Iranian forces. It was a targeted attack on Pakistani forces,” the spokesperson added. One FC vehicle was completely destroyed due to intense firing by Iranian forces. Iranian border guards continued firing for six hours. However, Pakistani forces did not retaliate to the offensive of the neighbouring country.
“It is a clear border violation and [against] international law. It is also against the Pak-Iran border agreement,” the spokesperson said. “The firing started on late Thursday night and continued on Friday,” he added.
The spokesperson further said
Iranian border guards on Friday trespassed two kilometers inside Pakistani territory in Nokundi area of Chagai district in Balochistan and harassed residents of the area.
Iranian forces raided the house of Ghaus Baksh Notezai in Lashkar-e-Ahb village in the Chagai district and took away a vehicle and some items.
“The Iranian forces had taken away a vehicle and other [items] from the house,” an FC spokesperson said.
Inspector General Frontier Corps (FC) Ejaz Shahid said Pakistani forces will answer any Iranian attack in the future. “Pakistani forces will respond to Iranian forces in the future if they invade or carry out any attack on Pakistani territory,” he said.
On Thursday, Iran issued a veiled threat to Pakistan of possibly crossing the border to contain terrorists if Pakistan fails protect its border and stop terrorists from entering Iran, Iranian state media reported.
It said Iranians will chase terrorists wherever they are found inside Pakistani territory.
Two Iranian border guards killed in clashes with rebels
Iran said on Friday that two of its border guards had been killed in clashes with rebels along the border with Pakistan on Thursday night, ISNA news agency reported.
“Several rebels” also died in the Thursday night fighting, ISNA quoted a military official as saying, adding that a car and weapons were seized. It was not immediately clear whether this was linked to the cross border firing and shelling by Iranian forces which resulted in the death of a Pakistani soldier.
The clashes erupted in Iran’s restive province of Sistan-Baluchistan, where attacks by rebels earlier this month killed five people, four of them security forces.
Iranian media said 14 people were arrested in connection with those attacks.
Border violation: Iranian cross-border firing kills FC official, injures three others – The Express Tribune