Border violation: Mashkail residents protest Iran’s firing

Four mortar shells fired from across the border had exploded in Mashkail on Sunday but no one was hurt.


Our Correspondent November 19, 2013
Four mortar shells fired from across the border had exploded in Mashkail on Sunday but no one was hurt. PHOTO: FILE

QUETTA:


Residents of Mashkail town took to the streets on Monday to protest against the mortar fire by Iran’s border guards a day earlier.  


Four mortar shells fired from across the border had exploded in Mashkail on Sunday but no one was hurt. The township shares a border with the Jalk district of Iranian Balochistan.

Scores of angry people took out a procession, raising slogans against Iran for violating the border and attacking Pakistani territory.

“Border violations by Iran have become the norm in Mashkail. The attack damaged a mosque but luckily no one was hurt,” Mir Noor Mohammed, a protester, told The Express Tribune.

Most of the shops did not open for several hours in protest as people joined the rally.

“Pakistan needs to act and take up the issue with Iran,” said Jiaend Khan, an elder of the area.



The protesters held a sit-in in front of the assistant commissioner’s office. They dispersed after the administration’s assurance that the issue would be taken up with Iran.

A few days back, an Iranian helicopter had also violated Pakistani airspace, something which Iran denies.

Iranian authorities claim their forces have to take action against smugglers, human traffickers and drug pushers who cross the border.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2013.

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