The status of five kidnapped Iranian border guards remains unclear, Iran said on Sunday, retracting earlier reports by Iranian military officials that they had been freed in Pakistan. "Until now, reports about the fate of the five border guards are not reliable," an Iranian Interior Ministry official said, according to the state news agency IRNA.
An Iranian Sunni rebel group called Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for the February 6 kidnapping of the five men in Sistan-Balochistan province, according to a Twitter account purporting to belong to the group. Its authenticity could not be immediately verified.
The group also denied the border guards had been released. "There is no truth to the rumour in Pakistani media and some Iranian news websites about the freeing of Iranian soldiers held prisoner," Jaish al-Adl tweeted on Saturday. On Saturday, IRNA had said the Iranians were among 11 foreign hostages freed in an operation by Pakistani forces.
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