A number of mortar shells were fired into Pakistan’s territory from across the Iranian border today, ANI quoting Samaa TV reported on Sunday. Another Pakistani news channel, Geo TV, quoting Pakistani officials reported that five mortar shells were fired from Iran that landed in Balochistan’s Chaghai area. The report added that no casualties were reported in the incident. The incident comes days after 10 Iranian border guards were reportedly killed by Pakistan-based militants. Reports said that guards were reportedly killed at Mirjaveh on the Sistan-Baluchistan border by the Pakistan-based Sunni terror outfit, Jaish al-Adl or “The Army of Justice”. News agency ANI reported that Pakistan shares a 900-kilometre long porous border with Iran. Two countries had in 2014 decided to boost intelligence coordination to wipe out terrorists from the border region.
After the attack, Iranian police issued a statement and said the guards were killed by long-range guns and warned Islamabad that Tehran would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront militants with efficiency, Geo news reported. Later, it was reported that Iran army chief also said that Tehran will hit “safe havens” of terrorists in Pakistan if Islamabad fails to take steps to stop terrorists from carrying out cross-border attacks. Later, taking cognizance of the statement, Pakistan called on Iranian Ambassador to the Foreign Office and conveyed concerns over the reported remarks, PTI reported.
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Pakistan’s external and internal troubles are at all time high in recent weeks. Apart from Iran, the country is facing heat from Indian side as well with diplomatic tension soaring on Kulbhushan Jadhav row. Islamabad has recently suffered a mega jolt at world stage as International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled in favour of India in the crucial Kulbhushan Jadhav case. The world court has asked Pakistan to ensure that Indian national is not hanged till the verdict in the case comes out.