Iran’s Rouhani urges Pakistan to act against group behind border attack

DUBAI REUTERS March 9 -  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Saturday for “decisive” action by Pakistan against a militant group behind a deadly suicide attack in a border area, saying failure to act could jeopardise relations.   

 Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Rouhani’s remarks were made during a telephone conversation with neighbouring Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, who said he would soon have “good news” for Iran, according to the report. 

 
 A suicide bomber killed 27 members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in mid-February where security forces are facing a rise in attacks by militants from the Sunni Muslim minority.   

 The Sunni group Jaish al Adl (Army of Justice), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the ethnic Baluchi minority, claimed responsibility for the attack.   

 “We should not allow decades of friendship and fraternity between the two countries to be affected by the actions of small terrorist groups...,” IRNA quoted Rouhani as telling Khan.