Daily Times

At least one Pakistani was wounded after Iranian forces opened fire on smugglers on Monday in an area on the border of Iran and Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, a Pakistani official said on Wednesday.

Deputy Commissioner of Panjgur, Abdul Razzaq Saloli said that no Pakistani has died and only one person from Kharan was injured who received a bullet in the leg. He added that the injured is stable now.

Saloli said a body and an injured Pakistani were handed over to border authorities by Iranian officials. He said the injured Pakistani man, identified as Shams Baloch, had reported that more than 10 people were killed and many injured in the shooting.

MPA Sanaullah Baloch, a leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), who visited the injured in a private hospital of Quetta, urged the federal government to formulate a policy for the jobless people of Kharan. He said that the people of the area have been left with no option but to opt for smuggling of oil as the backward area lacks job opportunities.

“We have reports that several dead and injured have been brought to Panjgur and other districts of Balochistan,” Baloch said. “I demand a trilateral commission comprising members of the Iranian and Pakistani foreign ministries and Baloch representatives and elders to probe this unfortunate incident and dig out the reasons for why fire was opened on innocent people.” Baloch urged Iran to investigate the incident and punish those found guilty.

According to a media report, the shooting at the border left at least two dead and six wounded. It quoted Iranian officials as saying forces had shot at several fuel smugglers on the Pakistani side of the border near Saravan the day before.