GWADAR: Iranian border security forces fired several mortar shells into Pakistani territory, at least one of which exploded in the Prom area of Panjgur district on Sunday, official sources said.

They said the shells were fired in the early hours of the day and landed close to the border.

“The mortar shell that exploded in Prom [town] had landed in an uninhabited area; that’s why there was neither any casualty nor loss of property,” the sources said, adding that security personnel rushed to the area after learning about the incident.

About two weeks ago a man was killed when shells fired from across the border hit a vehicle in the same area.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly had to lodge protest with Iranian officials over similar incidents in the past.

Pakistan shares a 900-kilometre-long porous border with Iran and the two countries decided in 2014 to boost intelligence coordination to wipe out terrorists from the border region.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2017