Pakistan: Five released Iranian border guards handed over to Iran
"With the help of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) and military forces, five Iranian border guards have been released," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Faisal said in a tweet on Thursday, November 15.
According to IRNA, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, also confirmed this message on Thursday and said: "Five of the Mirjaveh border guards have been released and efforts are continuing to free the other hostages."
The commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards said in a press conference: "These released hostages are in the hands of the Pakistanis and are ready to be handed over to us." Regarding the hostage-takers, Jafari explained that they are trying to free a number of their members, but the Islamic Republic is not giving in to their demands.
Kidnapping of Iranian border guards
On October 16, 14 Iranian border guards were kidnapped on the Pakistani border. According to Iranian media, the attack on these people took place in the early hours of the morning in the Lolakdan border zone. The Lolakdan border zone is located 50 kilometers from the city of Mirjaveh. There have been previous attacks on Iranian forces in this area.
Following this attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif personally traveled to Islamabad in November of this year to follow up on the situation of these border guards, along with a delegation of political and military representatives.
Jaish al-Adl, the successor to Jundallah
The “Army of Justice” group, which describes itself as the defender of the Sunni minority in the Sistan and Baluchestan region, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the kidnapping of the Iranian border guards. The group was established after the collapse of the Jundallah group.
The leader of the Jundallah group, Abdolmalek Rigi, who had pursued an armed approach in his struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran, was arrested in March 2009 and executed in June 2010. Jaysh al-Adl was founded a few months after Abdolmalek Rigi's execution by his brother, Abdolrauf Rigi.
In February 2014, the "Army of Justice" kidnapped five Iranian border guards and killed one of them in retaliation for the death of one of its members in an Islamic Republic prison.
Source: DW
