6 Pakistanis shot dead by Iranian guards

Iranian border guards shot dead six Pakistanis and injured two more after they strayed across the border in southwestern Balochistan province, Pakistani officials said today.

Iranian border guards opened fire at a group of Pakistanis in Chahbahar area of Iran when they were returning home after selling their cattle in an Iranian market yesterday, Gwadar's Deputy Commissioner Abdul Rehman Dashti told reporters.

Six Pakistanis were killed and two others sustained bullet wounds in the firing by Iranian security personnel, Dashti said. Iranian forces have not handed over the bodies or the injured, he said.

Pakistani officials were in touch with their Iranian counterparts regarding the return of the bodies and the two injured persons, police officials said.

The Pakistanis involved in the incident were cattle traders who often went to Iran to earn better profits, they said. Earlier this month, Pakistan deported three Iranian border guards who were detained after they killed a Pakistani man in a cross-border attack in Balochistan on January 2.

They were repatriated after they were pardoned in court by the family of the dead man.