Militants in Iran blamed for deadly attack on soldiers in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — A group of militants crossed the border from neighboring Iran last week and carried out a deadly attack against Pakistan armed forces in southwestern Baluchistan province, killing 14, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

The ministry said in a letter to the Iranian government that the assailants were from a newly formed Baluch separatist group, Raji Aajoi Sangar, and that they were based in Iran’s adjacent Baluchistan province.

It urged Iran to act against the attackers who had fled back across the border.

Groups operating within Pakistan’s and Iran’s Baluchistan provinces, which share a long border, seek independence from both countries.

The announcement came a day before Prime Minister Imran Khan is to visit to Iran. Despite lodging a protest with Tehran over the attack, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the planned two-day visit, beginning Sunday, is intact and that Khan will take up the matter of Thursday’s killings with Iranian authorities.

Qureshi said he spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Saturday to share initial findings of a Pakistani probe into the killing of security personnel. He said he demanded action against those responsible.

He said Pakistan already had shared actionable intelligence with Tehran about the hideouts and training facilities of the Baluch separatists who carried out the attack and that an Iranian response was awaited.

Though militants along the border region often target Iranian guards, it is the first time in recent years that Pakistan publicly accused Iran of “inaction” against Baluch groups responsible for the killing of Pakistani security forces.