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Today's Paper | December 23, 2024

Updated 27 May, 2017 06:09pm

Iranian border forces fire mortar shells into Pakistani territory

Iranian forces fired four mortar shells across the border into Balochistan's Panjgur district on Friday, a member of the local administration told DawnNews.

Deputy Commissioner Panjgur Habibur Rehman claimed Iranian forces fired four mortar shells into Panjgur's Parom area 'without any justification and provocation'.

"We have not received any report about any human loss", he added.

Security was tightened in the province in the aftermath of the shelling. More security personnel have been sent into the area to guard the border, the deputy commissioner said.

Panic prevailed among the residents of Parom following the shelling, and officials in Panjgur lodged a protest with the Iranian border chief with regards to border violations.

Pakistan has accused Iranian forces of violating its territorial integrity and has lodged protests with Iran in this regard several times in the last few years.

Pakistan shares a 900 kilometre long porous border with Iran and the two countries had in 2014 decided to boost intelligence coordination to wipe out terrorists from the border region.

Pakistan, as part of its counter-terrorism efforts, has recently also stepped up border management in an attempt to better check cross-border movement of suspected terrorists.

Work on the Rs20 million Pakistan Gate in Taftan along the Pak-Iran border was completed in 2016. This border crossing point is the oldest trade route to Iran and Europe and thousands of foreigners and locals travelling to Europe and Iran by road each year use this crossing point.

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