Iran follows up on its promise to smoke out terrorists from Pakistan

Militants based out of Pakistan have been targeting soldiers of countries sharing borders with it.

There is a growing probability that actions, similar to the 'Surgical strikes' that India conducted last year on Pakistani soil, may be taken following the brutal killings and mutilation of two Indian soldiers this year. But Pakistan seems to have its hands full as its other neighbour, Iran, seems to have already taken actions against terrorists inside Pakistan's territory.

Pakistan had earlier been warned by the head of the Iranian armed forces that Tehran would hit terrorist bases inside the country if its government fails to stop cross-border attacks by Sunni militants.

According to reports, Iran seems to be following through on its warning, as five mortar shells fired from Iran landed in Balochistan's Chaghai area on Sunday, with Pakistani security officials adding that no casualties were reported in the incident.

Last month, 10 Iranian border guards were reportedly killed by a Sunni militant group called Jaish al-Adl, using long range guns, fired from inside Pakistan. Iran's border area which it shares with Pakistan has been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs as well as separatist militants.

According to Iran's State news agency IRNA, Major General Mohammad Baqeri had said at the time, "We cannot accept the continuation of this situation." The Major General, who is the head of the Iranian armed forces also reportedly said, "We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases." He had further added, "If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are."

The foreign minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif had visited Pakistan after the attack and reportedly asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve the border security and had received assurances that Pakistan would deploy additional security along the border.

In a similar warning in 2014, the country had said that it would send troops to Pakistan to retrieve five Iranian border guards kidnapped by Jaish al-Adl. Pakistan had responded that such an action would violate international law and issued a counter warning to the Iranian forces not to cross the border.

The issue had calmed down when a local Sunni cleric stepped in and helped resolve the situation, with four of the five guards being released a few months later, while one was killed by the militants.

While killings of eight Iranian border guards in April 2015 and 14 in October 2013 have previously been claimed by the group.

The Sunni militant group, Jaish al-Adl, has been blamed for carrying out several attacks the country's security forces in an attempt to highlight what it calls discrimination against the minority Sunni Muslims in a Shi'te majority Iran.

OneIndia News