Iran fired a series of mortar shells into neighbouring Pakistan on Sunday, reported Samaa TV. Another Pakistani news channel, Geo TV, quoted authorities as saying that five mortar shells fired by Iran fell into Balochistan’s Chagai region. No casualties have been reported so far.
The firing comes days after 10 Iranian border security personnel were reportedly killed by Pakistani militants. According to reports, the Iranian guards were killed at Mirjaveh on the Sistan-Balochistan border by the Pakistan-based Sunni terror outfit, Jaish al-Adl.
Pakistan shares a 900-km border permeable border with Iran. Since 2014, the countries have ostensibly been fighting against border terrorism, as stated in a report by The Financial Express.
Following the cross-border firing, the Iranian police issued a warning to Islamabad, saying that Tehran would attack Pakistani bases if they did not contain militancy, The Financial Express quoted Geo News.
Iran’s army chief reportedly reiterated the same warning later. Following these threats, Pakistan called upon the Iranian Ambassador to share their concerns about the incident and its ramifications, according to PTI.
In the backdrop of Pakistan’s troubled ties with Iran is the US Arab Islamic Summit in Riyadh on Sunday, which was attended by over 55 heads of state including US President Donald Trump and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Pakistan’s The Nation reported a senior foreign ministry official as saying that just because Pakistan was a participant at the Riyadh summit, it did not necessarily mean that it was backing Riyadh against Tehran.
If Iran also holds such a meeting, we will be definitely attending it. We cannot have relations with one country at the cost of the other. It is a fact that we are struggling to win over Iran these days but we will be able to do that in the coming weeks.
Reports claim that Nawaz Sharif is likely to send Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to Iran in the following weeks. The Nation also reported Khan as saying that he would visit Iran after Ramazan and that matters would be ‘addressed amicably’.
During the weekend, Sharif extended his congratulations to Hassan Rouhani on being re-elected as Iran’s president. Sharif also asserted that the two nations share a deep bond of history, culture, tradition, and faith.
Also Read: Will Hit Militant “Safe Havens” Inside Pak: Iran Warns Islamabad
(With inputs from ANI.)
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