The Deputy Commander of Iran’s border police reports that in the past year, on average, his forces have had to handle at least one armed conflict per day in the country’s border regions.

In conversation with the Mehr News Agency, Ahmad Geravand said the conflicts have led to the death of several border officials and the recent abduction of five soldiers. He stated that the problem they are facing in the Pakistan and Afghanistan borders is that the country’s two neighbours exercise minimal control over the border therefore Iranian border officers are left with all border monitoring responsibilties.

Five Iranian border officials were abducted in February by the Sunni militant group Jeysh-ol-Adl, who announced last week that they had executed one of their hostages, Jamshid Danaifar, and that they will kill another if Iranian authorities do not meet their demands.

Today, the Ministry of the Interior announced that it is enlisting the support of elders in the Sistan-Baluchistan region to secure the release of the hostages.

Radio Zamaneh