Pak-Iran officials agree to boost security at border

CHAGHAI: Pakistani and Iranian senior border officials have agreed to boost security arrangements at their border in order to block the entry of terrorist elements and smugglers from one side to the other side.

The officials carried out a joint survey of Kachao Rabat and other border areas and identified the points where there was a need to strengthen the security to check the intrusions.

The survey of the sensitive areas was carried out on the orders of the ministers of the two countries after Iranian complaints that terrorists enter from the Pakistani side of the border and return after attacks on Iranian border guards.

Ten Iranian border security guards were killed last month. Iran accuses Jaish Al-Adl, an organisation it has designated as a terrorist group, of killing the guards with long-range guns fired from inside Pakistan.

“We cannot accept the continuation of this situation,” Major General Baqeri was quoted as saying by state-run news agency IRNA. “We expect Pakistani officials to control their borders arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases,” he said.

If the terrorist attacks continue we will hit their safe havens and cells wherever they are he had threatened. Pakistan on 10th May 2017 conveyed its concerns to Iran over warnings by the latter s army chief that it could carry out operations inside Pakistani territory.

Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost was called to the Foreign Office to convey Pakistan’s concerns over the reported remarks of the Iranian chief of staff of the armed forces regarding cross border actions.

Official sources said the frequency of recent high-level exchanges from both sides had strengthened bilateral cooperation and during the Iranian foreign minister s visit to Islamabad on May 3 the two sides had agreed to enhance cooperation on border issues.

The Iranian side was also urged to avoid issuing statements that could vitiate the environment. When Javad Zarif visited Pakistan last week and asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve border security he was assured that additional troops would be deployed along the border with Iran.