GWADAR – *Iranian forces opened fire near Gwadar, killing two Pakistanimen.* According to Pakistan security officials, 15 people tried to enterIran illegally. The Iranian border force opened fire on the illegalentrants. Two of them were killed on the spot while five others were takeninto custody. The remaining managed to enter Iran and fled.
Pakistani officials said the Iranian border force handed over the bodiesand the arrested five men to the Levies at Pillar No. 250 of the Pak-Iranborder. Iranian officials say the incident took place on April 12.
Levies officials shifted the bodies to the District Headquarter Hospital,Gwadar, where they were identified as 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan, son ofFarzand Ali Khan, and 27-year-old Omer Sadiq, son of Allah Dad. The bodieswere sent to their native town in Bannu.
The arrested men were taken to the Levies police station in Gwadar, afterwhich they were handed over to FIA Gwadar. Three of them, Waheed Khan, ShahFayaz Khan and Sifat Ali Khan, belong to Bannu, while Muhammad Sagheerbelongs to Karachi. The fifth man, identified as Muhammad Muqeem, belongsto Jhang.
This is the second incident in which Iranian forces shot Pakistani migrantstrying to enter the country illegally. On March 13, Iranian border forceskilled two migrants from Gujranwala on the border with Pakistan. They hadwanted to enter Turkey via Iran as part of a 13-member group. According tothe family of the deceased, Lakht-e-Abbas and Sarfaraz were trying toillegally cross into Iran when they were spotted and shot by the Iranianborder guards. They died on the spot while the remaining 11 men are missingto date. Members of an Afghan family were also among them.
Thousands of Pakistanis risk their lives every year to travel to Europe insearch of better opportunities but the majority ends up in jail or dead.They try to cross into Iran through Balochistan.
In November last year, 20 people attempting to unlawfully cross thePakistan-Iran border were killed by separatists in Turbat, Balochistan.
In a report submitted in the Supreme Court, the FIA had revealed that 6,767Pakistanis entered the European countries illegally through Iran in 2017alone. According to the report, 27,749 were deported – 18,810 from Iran,4,401 from Turkey and 4,538 from European countries. The report hadidentified Gujranwala as “the origin of the majority” of them.