Pakistan to fence border with Iran, says FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday expressed the hope that Iran will take action against terrorists involved in the Ormara incident, which saw 14 Pakistani officials martyred on Thursday.Speaking at a press conference, the minister said Pakistan has credible information that the Baloch terrorist organization based in Iran had carried out the massacre.He said keeping in view Pak-Iran strong relations, "We hope that our Iranian brothers and friends will take action against terrorists".Qureshi said he had talked to his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif to raise the issue.He said Zarif condemned the terrorist incident and reassured him that Iran will act on the information provided by Islamabad.The minister said Pakistan has  located and identified the  locations of terrorists based on Iranian territory. He added that the information has been shared with Iranian officials. The foreign minister said Pakistan hopes Iran will take visible action like Pakistan did by recovering abducted Iranian officials.He said in order to strengthen the border security and prevent such incidents from happening, Pakistan has decided to fence its border with Iran.He said Pakistan had already started fencing the border at points which are considered exposed to infiltration.Qureshi said despite facing financial issues,  Pakistan had opted for the border fencing.Briefing about the measures taken for improved border security, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan has set up a new southern command  that is based in Balochistan's Turbat area. He said new  Frontier Corps force has also been raised to  increase border patrolling.He said Pakistan has decided to carry out heli surveillance of the country's border with Iran.Qureshi said Pakistan hopes Iran will eliminate anti-Pakistan elements that want to damage relations between the two countries.The Pakistani foreign minister also urged  Afghan government to move against Baloch terrorist organizations  based  in its territory.

from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2VXOKWH