Pakistan voices solidarity with Iran following Zahedan terror attack

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Zahedan on Saturday, resulting in the loss of lives of two Iranian policemen, ARY News reported. 

“We express our deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the swift recovery of those injured,” the Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement.

“Pakistan stands in complete solidarity with the government and people of Iran in this common fight against the scourge of terrorism,” the statement added.

Earlier in the day, four assailants were killed after blasting their way into an Iranian police compound, leaving two officers dead in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.

“Four unidentified armed individuals attacked and entered police station Number 16 of Zahedan”, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, according to state broadcaster IRIB, quoting the province’s deputy head of security Alireza Marhamati.

The attackers used grenades to blast open the gates of the police station and an exchange of fire occurred, said Marhamati, adding that “two policemen was martyred.”

The Quds Force, in charge of operations abroad for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the attack involved four “terrorists”, all of whom were killed in the clash, the IRNA state news agency reported.

Sistan-Baluchistan is one of Iran’s poorest provinces and is home to the Baluchi minority, who adhere to Sunni Islam rather than the Shiite branch predominant in Iran.

The area has seen clashes involving drug smuggling gangs as well as rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni Muslim extremist groups.