https://arab.news/jze2k
- Iran and Pakistan accuse each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across shared border
- Pakistani officials say umbrella group of separatist outfits is receiving support from Iran and India, both deny state complicity
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan interior ministry has said anti-Pakistan militant outfits were regrouping in the southwestern Balochistan province through the bordering Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan.
Iran and Pakistan often exchange accusations of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across their shared border.
An umbrella group representing various insurgent groups and operating in Balochistan has claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks in recent weeks, including ambushing and laying siege to two Pakistan army bases in February. Seven soldiers and 13 attackers were killed.
Pakistani officials have said the group is receiving support from Iran and India. Both nations deny state complicity in militant attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Dawn reported on Tuesday that in a written reply submitted to the National Assembly during a question hour in response to a query posed by Dr Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro, an opposition lawmaker, interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said: “Yes, anti-Pakistan terror outfits are regrouping in Balochistan via Sistan.”
Pakistani soldiers wearing facemasks stand guard at the closed Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan on Feb. 25. (AFP/FILE)
He said the National Intelligence Coordination Committee (NICC) was working to integrate all federal and provincial intelligence grids and carry out effective border management and fencing along the western border to stem the tide of growing militancy in the region.
“Persistent intelligence-based operations are being undertaken to neutralize terror organizations,” Ahmed said in his reply, adding that operational capabilities of the counterterrorism apparatus were being enhanced.
Pakistani soldiers wearing facemasks patrol near the closed Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan on February 25, 2020. (AFP/File)
According to a tally by Dawn, since the beginning of the year, separatist groups have carried out at least seven major attacks in Balochistan, in which at least 22 people, including soldiers, have been killed.