ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said today that Pakistan would fence its border with Iran to prevent recurrence of Omara like terror attacks from across the border.
He was talking to journalists here at a Presser. FM held that actionable forensic evidence had been shared with the Iranian government showing links of the terrorists with the neighboring country, besides the presence of their logistics and training camps located across the border. Iran, he hoped, would take ‘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 centers at six points for surveillance along the border.
Qureshi said Pakistan wanted to know the factors behind the Omara 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 organizations, 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 logistics 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 that 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. He said the Iranian foreign minister had termed the attack an attack on the security of both Pakistan and Iran. The foreign minister 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, during which security issues would be discussed in detail. He 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 has also been decided that 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 long 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 Omara 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 from buying gas from Iran, but international sanctions against the latter were impeding the process. To another question, he said it was a known fact as to which country was backing such terrorist organizations 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 normalize relations with India.
