Iranian Commander Due in Afghanistan after Two Border Guards Killed
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The commander of Iran’s border police said he plans to visit neighboring Afghanistan over a recent cross-border attack by armed assailants that led to the martyrdom of two Iranian guards in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Saturday, Brigadier General Qassem Rezaei said he will head for the Afghan capital of Kabul on Tuesday to hold talks with senior security officials of the neighboring country about the recent attack on Iranian border guards in Zabol.
The commander said he will also discuss cross-border interactions and efforts to implement previous agreements on border control between the two countries.
During the clash with the armed militants in Zabol, over one tone of illicit drugs was captured, the commander said, adding that the two border guards were martyred in the operation, which prevented smugglers from crossing the border illegally.
While Iranians were watching the national football team’s match against Spain in the World Cup 2018 games on Wednesday night, servicemen in an outlying Border police station in southeast of the country, near the common border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, came under attack from a group of gunmen, but foiled their attempt to intrude into the Iranian territories.
Two soldiers were killed and three others were wounded in the raid. They served at Talib-Khan Hill station from the Tasouki company, part of the Zabol border regiment.
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.