escalation
After Iranian attacks: Pakistan attacks “terrorist hideouts” in Iran
A police officer in front of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. The country says it has attacked extremists on Iranian territory.
© AFP
Pakistan says it has attacked extremists in Iran following an Iranian airstrike on its territory. Several “terrorists” were killed.
According to Iranian state television, three women and four were killed in a Pakistani rocket attack on a village near the border Children were killed. The fatalities are therefore not Iranian citizens.
The Iranian news agency Mehr spoke of a “drone and missile attack” on the city of Saravan, which is located in the Sistan-Balochistan province bordering Pakistan. The Irna news agency had previously reported explosions around the city.
Pakistani attacks following ‘credible intelligence’
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the attacks were decided in light of “credible intelligence information” about impending “large-scale terrorist activities.” “Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the ministry added. The attacks only served Pakistan’s security. A Pakistani intelligence official had previously told the AFP news agency that the attacks were aimed at “anti-Pakistani militant groups” in Iran.
Pakistan accused Iran on Wednesday of killing two children in an airstrike on its territory. In response to the attack, the government in Islamabad recalled its ambassador to Tehran.
Iran spoke of an attack against the Sunni jihadist group Jaish al-Adl on Pakistani territory. The attack was not directed against Pakistanis, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian assured on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos: “No nationals of the friendly (…) country Pakistan were attacked by Iranian missiles and drones.”
Pakistan attacks jihadist group Jaish al-Adl in Iran
Jaish al-Adl was founded in 2012 by former members of a radical Sunni movement. In recent years, the group has carried out several attacks in Iran, where it is classified as a terrorist organization. In December, the group claimed responsibility for an attack that left eleven dead on the police headquarters in the city of Rask in southeastern Iran.
Pakistan and Iran repeatedly accuse each other of allowing extremists to carry out attacks on the other country from their territory. The current airstrikes by both countries are increasing tensions in the region amid the Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas and the attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen on ships in the Red Sea, to which the US responded with attacks on positions of the Iranian-backed militia have.