Pakistan Army Rejects Reports of Joint Border Patrols with Iran

New Delhi (Sputnik): Pakistan’s public broadcaster, Radio Pakistan and the country’s leading newspaper Dawn, had reported joint patrolling along its border with Iran. Islamabad has started fencing the common border with Iran to de-escalate tensions that arose in the past, due to attacks on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Pakistan Army on Monday called the reports of joint border patrolling with Iranian forces “factually incorrect”. Its spokesperson said that there were no such patrolling carried out with Iranian troops near the town of Taftan in Chagai district.

“There is no joint patrolling anywhere on Pakistani Borders. Patrolling operations if required, are always on respective sides by respective forces through coordination,” spokesperson for the Pakistan Armed Forces, Major General Asif Ghafoor said.

The Dawn, which has been facing severe public protests for allegedly publishing anti-national stories last week, claimed that dozens of soldiers belonging to the Levies Force and Frontier Corps from Pakistan’s side and the Border Security Forces of Iran had participated in joint patrols.

News published by Dawn today titled “Pak-Iran Forces jointly conduct border patrolling” is factually incorrect. There is no joint patrolling anywhere on Pakistani Borders. Patrolling/ operations if required are always on respective sides by respective forces through coordination. pic.twitter.com/9MnC0lbKMT

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) December 9, 2019

Nevertheless, a similar story was also put out on Sunday by the public broadcaster Radio Pakistan which was later removed after a rebuttal from the military.

“Authorities of both neighbouring countries observed the border to identify suspected movements by each side and report to the other with the aim to overcome the threats,” Assistant Commissioner of Taftan Najeebullah Qambrani told Dawn.

The Iranian side had asked Pakistan to take stern action to eliminate terrorists which have been carrying out attacks on its border security forces. In February this year, terrorists had killed 27 Iranian soldiers and injured 13 near the border.

Earlier this year, the Pakistan government confirmed that it has started fencing the common border (950 km) to boost mutual co-operation. Nevertheless, the Pakistan government was planning to set up border markets, as fencing across the borders affected trade activities in the region.