ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday said it was in touch with Iranian authorities over the “horrifying and despicable” killing of Pakistani nationals by terrorists in the neighbouring country.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported earlier today that “according to witnesses, this morning unknown armed men killed nine non-Iranians in a house in the Sirkan neighbourhood of Saravan city” in the Sistan-Baluchistan province.
The agency added that no group or individuals had claimed responsibility.
The Baluch rights group Haalvash said on its website that the victims were Pakistani labourers, who lived at an auto repair shop where they worked. Three others were wounded, it said.
A statement issued by FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch in response to media queries on the matter said: “It is a horrifying and despicable incident and we condemn it unequivocally. We are in touch with Iranian authorities and have underscored the need to immediately investigate the incident and hold to account those involved in this heinous crime.”
She said Pakistan’s consul in Zahedan was en route to the hospital where the injured were being treated and would reach in a “few hours due to long distances and security imperatives involved”.
Baloch said the consul will also meet local authorities and “impress upon them the urgent need for strong action against the perpetrators of this crime”.
“We are fully seized of this grave matter and are taking all necessary measures in this regard. The embassy will do its best to repatriate dead bodies at the earliest,” she said.
“Such cowardly attacks cannot deter Pakistan from its determination to fight terrorism,” the FO spokesperson added.
Interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani termed the incident as an “attempt to spoil relations between Pakistan and Iran by our common enemies”.
