The flare up at Pakistan's other border (with Iran)

[GBCW 397]

By Syed Ali Shah

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Recent violations on the part of Iranian border guards have undermined relations between Pakistan and Iran with each side blaming the other for the flare up.

Iranian claims of the existence of militants in Pakistan's territory and the latter’s growing concern over repeated incursions by Revolutionary Guards into its side of the border have even raised the risk of a military standoff between the two countries at the Balochistan border.

On Friday, Iranian border guards had stormed inside the Mand area of Balochistan and had attacked a vehicle of Frontier Corps, killing one soldier and injuring three others. Khan Wasay, a spokesman for FC troops in Balochistan, told Dawn that at least 30 Iranian border guards had entered into Pakistan's bordering town of Nokundi and made the residents hostage for six hours.

These incidents prompted Islamabad to lodge formal protest with Iran over the border violations which in response demanded action against what it claims are militants based in Pakistani Balochistan, a charge vehemently denied.

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In February this year, Jaish ul-Adl (The party of justice) abducted five Iranian border guards in the Sistan-Balochistan province, leading to threats of military action from Iran’s Interior Minister Abdulreza Rahmani-Fazli inside Pakistani Balochistan. His remarks shocked and annoyed the Pakistanis which replied that it would not tolerate such a move.

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Four of the border guards were set free in April, but a fifth had been killed by the militant group in late March.

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A senior official of the Home Department of Balochistan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, says that Iran supports Baloch separatists fighting against Pakistan.

He suggested that this was related to Iranian misgivings about the development of the Gwadar Deep Sea Port. Gwadar, which is around 75 kilometers east of the Iranian border, will compete with the India-backed Iranian port at Chabahar by providing trade access to land-locked Afghanistan and Central Asian States through Pakistan.

Suspicion and blame games have marked the last decade of relations between the two countries. Iran is quick to point the finger at Pakistan whenever terrorists strike in Sistan-Baluchestan. The region is home to ethnic Baloch, who adhere to the Sunni strand of Islam. The Baloch say they are treated as second-class citizens in Iran.

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Meanwhile, people living on both sides of the border, most of them ethnic Baloch, continue to suffer. They share historic, cultural, religious and social ties, but terrorist incidents have prompted the two countries to maintain tight security along their porous border, where previously there used to be few restrictions.

Those living in Pakistan’s border districts are completely dependent on Iran in commodities and jobs. Riaz Baloch, a resident of Pakistani Balochistan, says that people from the region must now go through strict security checks to enter Iran. Baloch says members of his family live in Iranian Sistan-Balochistan, but deteriorating relations between the two countries mean they cannot see one other.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1139199/