Commander: Border Guards Entry Into Pakistan, Unintentional

Tehran, Jan 4, IRNA – Iranian Border Guards Commander Brigadier General Hossein Zolfaghari on Tuesday called on Islamabad to release three Iranian border guards who had entered Pakistan by mistake while chasing armed drug smugglers. “Pakistan border guards should immediately release the three guards who were doing their job," he said. Zolfaghari told IRNA that the second round of negotiations with Pakistani border police will take place in coming hours to secure the release of the detainees. “Three days ago border guards in Saravan, Sistan Baluchestan province, exchanged fire with a group of vandals and armed smugglers, killing two, injuring and arresting two others while the rest managed to escape into Pakistani territory. 500 kilograms of drugs were also seized, “ he explained. The commander added that a group of Iranian border guards chased the smugglers at night at the zero point of the border and unintentionally crossed into the Pakistani soil before being arrested by their Pakistani counterparts. Zolfaghari also called on Pakistani border guards to stop cross border drug trafficking into Iranian soil./end