alks with Pakistan for Release of Hostages in Progress

In an interview with Tasnim, Ali Kord said Iranian officials are seriously pursuing the talks with Pakistan to bring the remaining kidnapped border guards back home.

The so-called Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group infiltrated Iran from the Pakistani side of the border on October 15, 2018, and took hostage 14 border guards, local Basij forces, and IRGC members.

On November 22, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said five abductees returned to Iran after consultations and interaction with Pakistan.

The IRGC Ground Force’s Quds Base announced in October that the local Basij forces and the border regiment forces stationed at the border post in Mirjaveh region in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan had been abducted after “acts of treason and collusion” involving an element or elements of the anti-Revolution groups who had infiltrated the country.

Iranian military forces along the southeastern border areas are frequently attacked by terrorist groups coming from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Tehran has frequently asked the two neighbors to step up security at the common border to prevent terrorist attacks on Iranian forces.

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