Iran seeks army chief’s help over kidnapped guards
12
The number of Iranian guards kidnapped by militants
islamabad —Iran’s top military commander Maj-Gen Mohammad Hossein Bagheri phoned Pakistan Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and urged him to intensify efforts to rescue of kidnapped Iranian border guards.
In his conversation, Gen. Bagheri asked Gen. Bajwa to take “decisive and urgent” steps for the recovery of the abducted guards, according to Iranian media. In this regard, he referred to an agreement between the militaries of the two countries for ensuring normality along the Pak-Iranian border.
Twelve Iranian guards were kidnapped by militants on Tuesday from a post in the Mirjaveh region close to the border.
Jaish Al Adl, a militant group operating in the region, had claimed responsibility for their kidnapping.
Iranian leaders believe the militants moved the guards to Pakistan after taking them hostage. Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had on Wednesday called his Pakistani counterpart and requested for an early recovery of the guards.
“The Pakistani government should immediately implement all necessary means and measures to free border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran and arrest the notorious terrorists,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said.
The heads of military operations of the two armies have been coordinating the search efforts.
Air surveillance has been stepped up and additional troops have been deployed near the area where the incident took place.
The Iranian commander further asked Gen. Bajwa to enhance troop presence along the border to prevent illegal crossing of the frontier. The Iranian media quoted Bajwa as having expressed the hope that efforts made by Pakistani law enforcement agencies would soon lead to the recovery of the hostages. The Iranian military forces along the southeastern border areas are frequently attacked by militant groups on the border area.
Tehran has frequently asked its neighbours to step up security at the common border. —