TEHRAN: The four Iranian border guards rescued by the Pakistan military from a suspected militant outfit returned Friday to Tehran to a hero’s welcome, state television reported.
Live footage showed the soldiers dressed in suits stepping off an Antonov 74 transport aircraft and being welcomed by their commander, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour who heads the Revolutionary Guards ground forces.
The Pakistan military said in a statement on Thursday that it had rescued the soldiers who had been held captive by a militant group in the country´s restive southwest.
The statement said the rescue took place in Chaghi district of Balochistan province, near the Afghan border, but it did not say what date it took place.
“I am happy that these soldiers are returning to their families at the beginning of the new (Iranian) year, but I am also saddened that the remaining soldiers are still in captivity,” Pakpour told state television.
The families of the remaining soldiers should rest assured, Pakpour added, that “we will do what is necessary to free them as well”.
Earlier in November 2018, Pakistani security forces also safely recovered five of the 12 Iranian border guards who had been abducted by militants a month ago from Lulakdan area near the Pak-Iran border.
The Iranian security personnel including members of the Revolutionary Guards were kidnapped by militants on October 16 last year from a post in Mirjaveh region close to the border with Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
Later, the Iranian government sought Pakistan’s help in tracing those abducted guards.
