Five of the 12 Iranian border guards abducted by militants last month from Lulakdan area near the Pak-Iran border have successfully been recovered, the Foreign Office said on Thursday. In a statement to the media, the FO Spokesperson said the five men were in good health and the process to hand them over to Iranian authorities was well underway. The spokesperson continued, “Concerted efforts under the vigilance of the military leadership are on, to recover the remaining abductees.” At least 12 Iranian guards were kidnapped by militants from a post in Mirjaveh region close to the border. Jaish al-Adl, a terrorist group operating in the region, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Following the abduction, Iran’s top military commander Maj Gen Mohammad Hossein Bagheri held a telephonic conversation with Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and requested him to intensify efforts for search and rescue of the kidnapped Iranian border guards. “Both militaries, under a joint mechanism established since last year, are working to ascertain the whereabouts of the [missing] Iranian guards. The Director General Military Operations from the two sides are coordinating actions in this regard,” read the FO statement. “No effort will be spared to assist our Iranian brothers in finding the missing guards,” it had said. Published in Daily Times, November 16th 2018.