Tasnim – Iran’s border police are in talks with the Pakistani side in a bid to secure the release of the remaining Iranian border guards abducted by terrorists at a military post on the common border in October, the commander of the border police said.

“Follow ups in diplomacy and the dispatch of tribal leaders to Pakistan have taken place,” Brigadier General Qassem Rezaei said on Monday.

The border police are in contact with the Pakistanis, the commander said.

The area where the abducted border guards are being held is located on Pakistani soil, so Pakistani officials have pledged to pursue the issue, he added.

On October 15, the so-called Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group infiltrated the country from the Pakistani side of the border and took hostage 14 border guards, local Basij forces, and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) members.

The IRGC Ground Force’s Quds Base said on that day 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.

On November 22, the IRGC said five of the abductees returned home after consultations and interaction with Pakistan.

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.