ISLAMABAD – Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan, a paramilitary force,Friday informed the Senate panel that Iran was creating hurdles inPakistan’s effort to fence the Pak-Iran border.
Lt Colonel Hussain of the FC (South) informed the Senate Standing Committeeon Interior that Pakistan was “facing resistance from Iran, not overtly butcovertly, in its efforts to fence the border” to block infiltration ofterrorists as well as smuggling.
“When we start fencing work, Iran creates problems for us,” the officialsaid adding that though Iran officially used to say that it was ready tohelp Pakistan in fencing the border.
The official was responding to the questions of lawmakers regarding theOrmara incident. JUI-F lawmaker Senator Talha Mahmood had inquired from theFC whether it was not a failure of the civil armed force that more than 15terrorists allegedly came from Iran and killed 14 passengers near Ormaraarea of Balochistan.
The FC official told the committee that FC was after the terrorists whowere behind the bloodshed and recently 15 miscreants including at least twoinvolved in the incident had been killed. He also underscored the forceshould be empowered first as it lacked resources and then held accountableon such incidents.
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Lt Colonel Hussain told the meeting which met under the chair of PPPSenator Rehman Malik that surveillance equipment would also be installedalong the fence and there would be a real-time monitoring of the border.
Last month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said after Ormarakillings that Pakistan would fence its around 950 km border along Iran toensure peace. He had also alleged that an Iran-based terrorist organizationwas behind this terrorism.
On April 18, around 15-20 masked men had shot dead 14 passengers ofnon-Baloch ethnicities at Makran Coastal Highway after intercepting sixbuses, and forcing them to disembark after checking their identity cards.
