800,000 Volunteer Forces Trained to Protect Eastern Borders
November 22, 2000 - 0:0
MASHHAD, Khorasan Province Some 800,000 Basijis (volunteer forces) have been trained to be stationed along the country's eastern borders to fight insecurity, the commander of provincial Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said here Tuesday.
Brigadier General Akbar Ebrahimzadeh said that the Basijis would defend the eastern borders upon the order of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"Arming the Basijis aim to bring security to the villagers residing along the eastern borders of Khorasan and fight armed bandits," he told IRNA on the occasion of the Basij Week.
Since March 20, the start of the current Iranian calendar year, 77 cases of armed clashes have occurred between the Basijis and armed bandits and drug dealers, he said.
Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari, speaking in the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) on Monday, said that security forces have killed 360 Afghan drug traffickers and arrested another 4,000 over the past six months.
Iranian officials have called for more aid from Europe to help it curb the drug trade. Narcotics destined for markets in Europe and the Persian Gulf often pass through the country from neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The effects of the international drug trade becomes even more evident when one considers the sacrifice the country has made in trying to fight it.
In 1999 alone, 740 drug dealers and 174 Iranian police officers were killed in armed clashes in various parts of the country.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh, governor general of the Province of Khorasan, said that Iranian police forces have killed 40 armed bandits, mostly Afghans, along the eastern borders of the country since Tuesday last week.
The Iranian Parliament (Majlis) has earmarked Rls.200 billion to improve security along 950 kilometers of the joint borders with Afghanistan.
Iran's Armed Forces Commander, General Mohammad Salimi, said Monday that a battalion of troops have been deployed near the eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan to contain the flow of narcotics into the country.
(IRNA)
Brigadier General Akbar Ebrahimzadeh said that the Basijis would defend the eastern borders upon the order of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"Arming the Basijis aim to bring security to the villagers residing along the eastern borders of Khorasan and fight armed bandits," he told IRNA on the occasion of the Basij Week.
Since March 20, the start of the current Iranian calendar year, 77 cases of armed clashes have occurred between the Basijis and armed bandits and drug dealers, he said.
Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari, speaking in the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) on Monday, said that security forces have killed 360 Afghan drug traffickers and arrested another 4,000 over the past six months.
Iranian officials have called for more aid from Europe to help it curb the drug trade. Narcotics destined for markets in Europe and the Persian Gulf often pass through the country from neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The effects of the international drug trade becomes even more evident when one considers the sacrifice the country has made in trying to fight it.
In 1999 alone, 740 drug dealers and 174 Iranian police officers were killed in armed clashes in various parts of the country.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh, governor general of the Province of Khorasan, said that Iranian police forces have killed 40 armed bandits, mostly Afghans, along the eastern borders of the country since Tuesday last week.
The Iranian Parliament (Majlis) has earmarked Rls.200 billion to improve security along 950 kilometers of the joint borders with Afghanistan.
Iran's Armed Forces Commander, General Mohammad Salimi, said Monday that a battalion of troops have been deployed near the eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan to contain the flow of narcotics into the country.
(IRNA)