QUETTA (AA) – At least 14 Iranian security guards were killed in deadly clashes with gunmen on borders with Pakistan late Friday.
The clashes erupted in Washabb town, 20 km inside Iranian border near mountaineer region of Saravan, a senior Pakistani security official told Anadolu Agency.
Iranian security officials said that investigations were underway to identify whether the attackers were smugglers or Baluch rebels, who accuse Shiite-majority Iran of repression against the Sunni minority, according to Iranian media.
Some journalists in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, which is some 350 km off Iranian border, received a text message from a purported Jandullah spokesman claiming responsibility for the attack.
"We rang back the number (from they received the SMS) repeatedly but it remained switched off," Shahid Rind, a Quetta-based journalist, told AA.
He said he was not sure whether Jandullah or smugglers, who often use this route to trickle into the Iranian province Sistan-Baluchistan, was behind the attack.
The senior Pakistani security official could not confirm the involvement of Jandullah in the attack.
"Iranian authorities have not so far contacted us vis-à-vis investigations (into the attack), but we will fully cooperate if they seek our cooperation," he said.
The Inter Services Public Relations department of the Pakistani Army declined to comment on the attack, saying it had occurred inside Iran and had no relation with Pakistan.
Commonly known as "golden track", Pakistani-Iranian borders have been one of the most-used routes of drug traffickers during last three decades.
The border area has been the scene of bloody clashes between guards and traffickers during the past five years, killing over 4,000 policemen and border guards.
Drug trafficking accounts for death penalty in Iran, whose half of the prison population comprises drug traffickers.
By Aamir Latif – Anadolu Agency
englishnews@aa.com.tr
