What does Marg Bar Sarmachar mean?

KARACHI: Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Iran’s Siestan-o-Baluchistan province on Thursday morning, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), and a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation codenamed Marg Bar Sarmachar.

The English translation of Marg Bar Sarmachar is “death to the guerilla fighter”. “Marg Bar” in Persian means “death to”. During the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the slogan Marg Bar Amrika became very popular. It means “Death to America”. Sarmachar in Balochi means guerilla fighter or freedom fighter.

The MoFA said in its press release that Pakistan has consistently shared with Iran its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani-origin terrorists, calling themselves Sarmachars, on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran; Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists.

“However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. This morning’s action was taken in the light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities by these so-called Sarmachars.”