Pakistan to fence 950km border with Iran: Qureshi

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday Pakistan would fence its 950-kilometre border with Iran to prevent recurrence of Ormara-like terror attacks from across the border.

The foreign minister told a news conference here actionable forensic evidence had been shared with the Iranian government showing links of the terrorists with the neighbouring country, besides presence of their logistics and training camps located across the border.

Iran, he hoped, would take a “visible” action against the elements who used its soil to carry out Thursday’s terrorist attack in Balochistan. He said Pakistan and Iran would set up joint border centres at six points for surveillance along the border.

Qureshi said Pakistan wanted to know the factors behind the Ormara incident in which 14 passengers were killed after being offloaded from the bus. The victims included 10 soldiers of the Pakistan Navy and three of the Pakistan Air Force, besides a coastguard.

He said the Baloch Raaji-Aajohi e-Sangar (BRAS), an alliance of three Baloch terrorist organisations, had claimed the responsibility for the incident in which the killers were clad in Frontier Corps (FC) uniforms.

The Baloch terrorist outfits had set up their logistic camps inside the Iranian border area and that had also been conveyed to the Iranian authorities, he added.

He said Pakistan and Iran enjoyed fraternal ties and hoped Tehran would act against the perpetrators of the incident as had been assured by his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in a detailed telephonic conversation with him.

The foreign minister said the Iranian foreign minister had termed the attack an attack on the security of both Pakistan and Iran. He said Afghanistan should also take action against the anti-Pakistan elements operating from its soil.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan was scheduled to visit Iran on Sunday (today, during which security issues would be discussed in detail. The Prime Minister is embarking on two-day maiden official visit to Tehran.

The foreign minister said considering the prevailing security situation, Pakistan had decided to take six security measures to avoid recurrence of cross-border terrorism. Qureshi said a special command based in Balochistan’s Turbat area had been set up, besides raising a new corps to increase border patrolling. It had also been decided aerial surveillance of the Pak-Iran border would also be done through helicopters, he added. Like Afghanistan, he said, the Iranian border would also be fenced. Though the fencing of 950 kilometers border would be costly, it was need of the hour, he added. He said Iran had demanded necessary action from Pakistan when its security officials were abducted and shifted to Pakistan.

The action was accordingly taken and nine out of 12 abducted Iranian personnel were rescued by the Pakistani forces, he added. Responding to a question, he said the timing of Ormara incident was important, which showed that the elements behind it did not want peace in the region. He said Pakistan and Iran had historical relationships.

Pakistan could overcome its energy crisis by buying gas from Iran, but international sanctions against the latter were impeding the process.

Answering another question, he said it was a known fact as to which country was backing such terrorist organisations and supplying weapons to carry out insurgency and bring instability in Pakistan. He said despite worsening human rights situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir, Pakistan intended to normalise relations with India.