FIVE Iranian border guards were killed Sunday during clashes with an armed group in the restive south-eastern province of Sistan-Balochistan. The attack was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months. According to IRNA news agency, the guards were killed in Saravan, near Iran’s border with Pakistan.
In fact this is not the first incident of its kind. In recent months, Pakistan has also seen increased terrorist attacks from the Iranian side. The killing of five Iranian border guards has come at a time when just a few days back, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi jointly inaugurated a border market and a power transmission line which was seen as an important step to further bolstering their economic relations. This clearly indicates that hostile agencies are active in the region and that the close partnership between the two countries is not digestible to them. Pakistan views Pak-Iran border as a border of peace and friendship and remains committed to working with Iran towards the end. Also during his meeting with the Iranian President, the Prime Minister had proposed to further strengthen border security mechanism along Pakistan-Iran frontier to make it a symbol of peace, brotherhood, development and prosperity. As also stated by the Iranian Foreign Ministry in its condemnation statement, the aim of these terrorist groups is to disrupt the security of common borders and the security of the people living on the borders of the two countries. Hence, it is really important that both the countries collectively put in place a robust border security mechanism and enhance their coordination and intelligence sharing to thwart the sordid designs of the terrorists and their financers. This porous border is also used as the main conduit for human and drug trafficking. Hence securing the border will also help check these traffickers who play with the lives and future of our youths. We will suggest the relevant authorities on both sides to sit together and firm up an effective and foolproof security mechanism so that these terrorists and traffickers do not find any space in this border region. This will enable both the sides to exploit the true potential of cooperation in diverse fields.
