TEHRAN - The IRGC Ground Force Commander, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, left for Pakistan on Monday to pursue the case of the Iranian border guards kidnapped to Pakistan by terrorist on October 15, IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif announced on Monday.

“Since the day of kidnapping, the Guards made special and immediate efforts to set free the border guards and confront the terrorists who are being backed by the foreign spy agencies,” IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif said.

On October 15 the Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group kidnapped 12 Iranian border guards at the Mirjaveh border post in Sistan-Baluchestan province. 

The security personnel were unconscious when they were kidnapped. According to the IRGC, the infiltrators had helped with the abduction of the military staff to Pakistan.

The border guards were from local Basij forces, policemen and the IRGC personnel.

‘Iranian border guards are in full health’

Shahriar Heydari, the director general of the Interior Ministry department for border affairs, announced on Monday that the kidnapped border guards are in full health.

“The Pakistani government is determined to cooperate with the Islamic Republic of Iran in this respect,” he said.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday announcing readiness to help liberate the border guards.

The statement said that Pakistan spares no effort to find and liberate the kidnapped guards.

In the meantime, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the fact that Pakistan is responsible for following the case is because the border guards are kept inside Pakistan.

Speaking to ICANA, Zarif said Iranian officials had on various levels discussed the case with Pakistani counterparts, demanding tighter security on the border.

Iran has proposed joint military operation with Pakistan to free the soldiers. Iran has also demanded Pakistan to better guard its borders with Iran.

The Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group has been the Pakistani soil as a safe haven to abduct security forces or commit acts of terrorism in the border province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

 
NA/SP/PA