[caption id="attachment_84114" align="alignright" width="180"] A frame grab of a footage broadcast by Saudi Arabias al-Arabiya TV channel on February 17, 2014, showing five Iranian border guards abducted by the Jaish-ul-Adl Takfiri terrorist group.[/caption]
Iranian ambassador to Islamabad says Tehran is pursuing the fate of five Iranian border guards recently kidnapped by the Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group and transferred to Pakistan.
In a Saturday interview, Alireza Haqiqian said senior Pakistani security officials are investigating some media reports suggesting that the kidnapped Iranian border guards were freed in a rescue mission.
Based on the follow-ups so far, the release of Iranian border guards has not been verified by any official Pakistani source, the Iranian envoy added.
However, the envoy said the issue has been put on the Iranian Embassys agenda and the embassy staff is vigorously pursuing the issue.
An earlier report said that Pakistani security forces have freed 11 foreign hostages, including eight Iranians and three Tunisians, who had been held by militants in the southwest town of Turbat near the Iranian border.
According to Pakistani officials quoted by the AFP, the freed hostages did not include the five Iranian border guards kidnapped in February.
The Saturday rescues were made amid a search operation for the Iranian border guards by the Pakistani security forces
The Iranian soldiers were abducted in Jakigour region in the southeastern Iranian Sistan and Baluchestan Province before being taken by their captors to Pakistani territory.
Iran has repeatedly declared that it holds the Pakistani government responsible for the lives of the Iranian hostages.