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Iran-Pak Border to Become Source of Amity

Iran-Pak Border to Become Source of Amity
Iran-Pak Border to Become Source of Amity

Pakistan’s Army spokesman said joint efforts are underway to turn the country’s 909-kilometer border with Iran into a source of “peace and friendship” between the two nations.

Speaking in a press conference in Rawalpindi on Thursday, Major General Asif Ghafoor said the two governments are taking mutual measures to tighten security along the border, IRNA reported.

Among the steps, Ghafoor said new border crossings were to be opened to facilitate movements of people living in border areas and Pakistani Shias willing to make pilgrimage to holy sites in Iran.

The border has been a source of considerable tensions between Tehran and Islamabad, resulting from frequent attacks by Pakistani-based terrorists against security forces in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province.

Iran has frequently complained Islamabad is lax in controlling the border. In a significant incident, 11 Iranian border guards were killed and three others injured in a terrorist attack claimed by the so-called Jaish ul-Adl near the border town of Mirjaveh late April. Tehran reacted angrily to the attack, warning that “its patience was wearing thin” over Pakistan’s lack of cooperation. Intensive talks between Iranian officials and their Pakistani counterparts in the wake of the attack prompted the Pakistani Army early August to station more units along the border areas terrorists had earlier used to launch cross-border attacks against Iran. In recent months, Iranian officials have expressed satisfaction over the strengthened security of Iran-Pakistan border.

 

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