Gunmen kill nine Pakistanis in Iran border region days after military attacks |
Unknown gunmen killed nine Pakistani workers in Iran’s restive southeastern border region, Pakistani officials said, just over a week after Iran and Pakistan launched military strikes on each other’s territory.
According to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack in the city of Saravan.
The ambassador of Pakistan in Iran confirmed the incident on social networks.
“Deeply shocked by the horrific killing of 9 Pakistanis in Sarawan,” said Muhammad Mudassir Tipi. “The embassy supports the bereaved families in every way.”
“We have asked [Iran] to extend full cooperation on this issue,” he added.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry condemned the attack, calling it an “ugly and despicable incident”.
“We have been in contact with the Iranian authorities and emphasized the need to immediately investigate the incident and bring those involved in this heinous crime to justice,” Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement.
“Such cowardly attacks cannot deter Pakistan from its resolve to fight terrorism.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the shooting, spokesman Nasser Kanani wrote in a Telegram message on Saturday.
Concerned Iranian authorities are conducting investigations, Kanani wrote, adding that Iran and Pakistan “will not allow enemies to damage the brotherly relations between the two countries.”
According to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, no group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack.
Last week, Pakistan and Iran cracked down on militants on each other’s soil, increasing tensions between the two sides.
The two countries are divided by a variable border that stretches for approximately 900 kilometers (560 mi), with Pakistan’s Balochistan province on one side and Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province on the other.
Both countries have long fought against militants in the border conflict in the Baloch region.
Since the attacks, both sides have tried to defuse the situation by emphasizing Pakistan’s “close fraternal ties”..
