Browse by Region/Country
Pakistan charges Iranian border guards with murder
Font size:
The incident brings upfront the drug trafficking that takes place through porous Pakistan Baluchistan which is adjacent to the opium belt of Afghanistan. The Iranian regime is very tough with drug traffickers unlike Pakistan where there is a nexus between official agencies (army formations, frontier guards and local police) and drug syndicates that operate from their perch in Karachi.
Poreg View: This Teheran date-lined news item shows that all is not well between Iran and Pakistan even as they are trying to cover the extra mile to develop mutually beneficial economic relations. Cross border attacks are not new though. Baloch tribes live on either side of the border.
Pakistan side of Balochistan has been in turmoil for long years. Several ‘liberation’ armies are at work and brutalities of the Pakistan army are a part of folklore. Successive governments in Islamabad have addressed the Baloch unrest as a law and order issue which compounded the problem.
One of the militant groups, Jundallah (Soldiers of God) carries out hit and run raids into Iran and there are occasions in the past when Iranian border guards chased the Jundallah group back into Pakistan. The Jundallah chief Abdul Malik Rigi was executed in Iran in 2010. Tehran’s complaint is that Jundallah is an ISI creation at the behest of CIA.
One of Junadallah’s spectacular ‘victories’ was reported last July when it attacked the Grand Mosque in the provincial capital Zahedan, targeting members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps. As many as 28 people were killed in the raid.
The latest ‘incursion’ of Iranian guards into Pakistan had nothing to do with Jundallah though.
The Iranian Border Guards Commander Brigadier General Hossein Zolfaghari said three Iranian border guards had “entered Pakistan by mistake while chasing armed drug smugglers.”
“Pakistan border police should immediately release our three guards who were doing their job,” Zolfaghari told IRNA news agency adding that more negotiations will take place with the Pakistani border police to secure the release of the detainees.
The incident brings upfront the drug trafficking that takes place through porous Pakistan Balochistan which is adjacent to the opium belt of Afghanistan. The Iranian regime is very tough with drug traffickers unlike Pakistan where there is a nexus between official agencies (army formations, frontier guards and local police) and drug syndicates that operate from their perch in Karachi.
Nearly 3,500 Iranian security personnel were killed in clashes with traffickers over the past 30 years, mainly in areas bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. Unless Pakistan comes down hard on drug mafia, the problem will not abate and it will remain a flash point between Iran and Pakistan. It may in the short to medium term affect the plans for closer economic ties with Tehran selling gas and electricity to the energy starved Pakistan.
According to Iranian officials, three days ago border guards in Saravan (Sistan Balochistan province) exchanged fire with a group of vandals and armed smugglers, killing two, injuring and arresting two others with 500 kilograms of drugs while the rest managed to escape into Pakistani territory. It was chasing them that the Iranian guards entered Pakistan’s Washuk district and landed in the local police net at a distance of about three kilometres from the border.
‘Three Iranian border guards pursued the drug traffickers and unintentionally and due to darkness entered Pakistani territory and were arrested by Pakistani forces,” Hossein Zolfaqari was quoted as saying. The border is poorly marked. Pakistan officials acknowledge this but claim that these Iranian guards had shot at a car, killing a Pakistani national and injuring another Pakistani. Pakistani officials also contend that the Iranian guards were trying to take both Pakistani nationals into Iran. Zolfaqari denied both charges
Pakistani police have registered a case and it signals some toughening of stand against Iran. “We have registered a murder case against the three Iranians and will present them in court,” said Abdul Malik, officer in charge of the Mazan Sar Mashkail area, where the three were arrested. The arrests were ordered on the complaint by the father of the victim.
It is too early to say to what extent the ‘chase into Pakistan’ will affect border trade between the two countries which are not on the same page even in respect of Islam which they profess and follow. The Zero –Point trade gate was re-opened on the border in Taftan area of Chagai district a week before Christmas. It remained shut for three months with no official explanation forthcoming from the Iranians for the decision. And the closure was in effect putting Pakistan on notice that Iran would not hesitate to roll back trade plans if its core interests are hurt.
Pakistan side of Balochistan has been in turmoil for long years. Several ‘liberation’ armies are at work and brutalities of the Pakistan army are a part of folklore. Successive governments in Islamabad have addressed the Baloch unrest as a law and order issue which compounded the problem.
One of the militant groups, Jundallah (Soldiers of God) carries out hit and run raids into Iran and there are occasions in the past when Iranian border guards chased the Jundallah group back into Pakistan. The Jundallah chief Abdul Malik Rigi was executed in Iran in 2010. Tehran’s complaint is that Jundallah is an ISI creation at the behest of CIA.
One of Junadallah’s spectacular ‘victories’ was reported last July when it attacked the Grand Mosque in the provincial capital Zahedan, targeting members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps. As many as 28 people were killed in the raid.
The latest ‘incursion’ of Iranian guards into Pakistan had nothing to do with Jundallah though.
The Iranian Border Guards Commander Brigadier General Hossein Zolfaghari said three Iranian border guards had “entered Pakistan by mistake while chasing armed drug smugglers.”
“Pakistan border police should immediately release our three guards who were doing their job,” Zolfaghari told IRNA news agency adding that more negotiations will take place with the Pakistani border police to secure the release of the detainees.
The incident brings upfront the drug trafficking that takes place through porous Pakistan Balochistan which is adjacent to the opium belt of Afghanistan. The Iranian regime is very tough with drug traffickers unlike Pakistan where there is a nexus between official agencies (army formations, frontier guards and local police) and drug syndicates that operate from their perch in Karachi.
Nearly 3,500 Iranian security personnel were killed in clashes with traffickers over the past 30 years, mainly in areas bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. Unless Pakistan comes down hard on drug mafia, the problem will not abate and it will remain a flash point between Iran and Pakistan. It may in the short to medium term affect the plans for closer economic ties with Tehran selling gas and electricity to the energy starved Pakistan.
According to Iranian officials, three days ago border guards in Saravan (Sistan Balochistan province) exchanged fire with a group of vandals and armed smugglers, killing two, injuring and arresting two others with 500 kilograms of drugs while the rest managed to escape into Pakistani territory. It was chasing them that the Iranian guards entered Pakistan’s Washuk district and landed in the local police net at a distance of about three kilometres from the border.
‘Three Iranian border guards pursued the drug traffickers and unintentionally and due to darkness entered Pakistani territory and were arrested by Pakistani forces,” Hossein Zolfaqari was quoted as saying. The border is poorly marked. Pakistan officials acknowledge this but claim that these Iranian guards had shot at a car, killing a Pakistani national and injuring another Pakistani. Pakistani officials also contend that the Iranian guards were trying to take both Pakistani nationals into Iran. Zolfaqari denied both charges
Pakistani police have registered a case and it signals some toughening of stand against Iran. “We have registered a murder case against the three Iranians and will present them in court,” said Abdul Malik, officer in charge of the Mazan Sar Mashkail area, where the three were arrested. The arrests were ordered on the complaint by the father of the victim.
It is too early to say to what extent the ‘chase into Pakistan’ will affect border trade between the two countries which are not on the same page even in respect of Islam which they profess and follow. The Zero –Point trade gate was re-opened on the border in Taftan area of Chagai district a week before Christmas. It remained shut for three months with no official explanation forthcoming from the Iranians for the decision. And the closure was in effect putting Pakistan on notice that Iran would not hesitate to roll back trade plans if its core interests are hurt.
--yamarar
Add to:
del.icio.us |
Digg
del.icio.us |
Digg
Email to a friend
Print version
Plain textRate this article
Comments (1 posted):
Post your comment