Pakistan to fence border with Iran after Ormara incident: FM Qureshi
The minister said that Pakistan wants to know factors behind Omara incident.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Following the firing incident in Balochistan’s Ormara area, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday has announced to fence border between Pakistan and Iran for prevention of terror attacks in future.
Addressing a press conference, the minister said that joint border centers will be formed for check and balance along the border. Pakistan wants to know factors behind Ormara incident that killed 14 passengers after offloading them from the bus, he added.
Qureshi told that one coast guard, 10 soldiers of Pakistan Navy and three from Pakistan Air Force were among those martyred. The members of Baloch Raaji-Aajohi e-Sangar (BRAS), who were in guise of Frontier Corps (FC), claimed responsibility of the attack, he added.
The minister told that a detailed conversation on the incident was also held with Iranian Foreign Minister while Prime Minister (PM) is due to visit the neighboring country on Sunday for further briefing regarding the incident.
Iran has been informed about the forensic evidence and camps of BRAS in the area, he went on to say.
Pakistan has expressed the confidence that Iran will take visible action against the elements operating from its soil for terrorist acts in Baluchistan.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Saturday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan has shared actionable intelligence with the Iranian authorities after investigation about the involvement of these elements in the recent terrorist act on the Coastal Highway.
He said BRA’S, an alliance of three Baloch terrorist organizations, carried out the attack which killed fourteen people including ten personnel of Pakistan Navy.
He said these Baloch terrorist outfits have logistic camps inside the Iranian border.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he also held a detailed telephonic talk with the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javaid Zarif today and apprised him of the sentiments and the anger of Pakistani nation on the coastal highway incident.
He said the Iranian Foreign Minister condemned the dastardly act and described it as an attack not only on Pakistan but also Iran.
He said that the Iranian Foreign Minister assured full cooperation to trace out these elements.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi pointed out that we have already taken steps to make the border with Iran peaceful.
He said these include establishment of new Southern Command and new Frontier Corps.
Foreign Minister said both Pakistan and Iran have also agreed to establish joint border centers to foil the nefarious designs of undesirable elements.
Besides fencing of the border, we will also synchronize border patrolling and exercises to better manage the border.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi also hoped that Afghanistan will also take action against the BRAS which has its presence there as well.
Responding to a question, the Foreign Minister did not rule out the possibility of involvement of India in the recent terror attacks in Baluchistan. He said under a planned conspiracy, insurgency is being fanned in Baluchistan.
The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan-Iran relations have improved significantly and there could be spoilers to hurt this relationship through evil plots.
Responding to a question, the Foreign Minister categorically stated that no military operation will be carried out in Baluchistan.
He said we will take steps that heal the wounds of the local people and address their sense of deprivation.
Responding to a question about talks with India, the Foreign Minister said sanity demands that both Pakistan and India resolve their outstanding disputes through negotiations.
The Foreign Minister also expressed concerns over increased human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan demands action against terrorists involved in Ormara killings
Earlier, Foreign Office (FO) had forwarded a letter of protest to the Iranian Embassy in Islamabad and demanded to take action against the terrorists involved in killing of 14 passengers.
"15-20 terrorists who camouflaged themselves in Frontier Corps (FC) uniform barricaded the road and stopped 3-4 buses traveling from Ormara to Gwadar on the coastal highway at Buzi Top in the dawn of April 18 and on the identification of the passengers, shot dead 14 personnel belonging to the armed forces of Pakistan. BRAS which is the alliance of three Baloch terrorist organisations have claimed responsibility for this terrorist act," the letter stated.
"After the incident, the terrorists who arrived from border region returned to that area," it added.
The letter further read, "The information about the hubs of these Baloch terrorist organisations in Iran, having training camps and logistics bases across the border, was shared with Iranian intelligence in the recent past, and on a number of occasions earlier."
Iranian FM condemns attack
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had strongly condemned the attack and said, “Terrorists, extremists and their sponsors are terrified by close relations between Muslim states.”
Iran stands with the people and government of Pakistan, he added.
Ormara incident
On April 18, fourteen passengers were brutally shot dead at Makran Coastal Highway after forcing them to disembark from buses. Police claimed that about 15 masked assailants intercepted five or six buses on the highway, tied their hands and opened fire at them.
According to Balochistan Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohsin Hassan Butt, it was an act of "targeted killing". The victims were identified via their CNICs and shot at close range, he said.
