Pakistan carried out an attack inside Iran on Thursday, targeting separatist militants, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said, two days after Tehran said it attacked a militant base linked to Israel inside Pakistani territory.
The neighbors have had a rocky relationship in the past, but the strike was the highest-profile cross-border incursion in recent years, for which Tehran has demanded an explanation, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
Iranian media said several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchistan province bordering Pakistan, killing three women and four children, all non-Iranians.
“A number of terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation,” Pakistan’s ministry said in a statement, describing it as “a series of highly coordinated precision military strikes specifically targeted against terrorist hideouts”.
“Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the ministry added in its statement.
“The sole objective of today’s action is to pursue Pakistan’s own national security and interests, which are paramount and cannot be compromised.”
A Nasr multiple-tube ballistic missile is on display during a Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad in March 2015. Getty Images
Tehran has asked Islamabad for an explanation on the attack, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said, citing an unidentified official.
Pakistani intelligence sources told Reuters that the attack was carried out by military aircraft.
“Our forces have carried out strikes to target Baloch militants inside Iran,” said an intelligence official in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.
“The targeted militants belong to the BLF,” he added, referring to the Balochistan Liberation Front, which is demanding independence for Pakistan’s Balochistan region.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses Iranian clerics during a meeting on January 16, 2024. ZUMAPRESS.com
Iran said on Tuesday it had targeted a militant base linked to Israel inside Pakistan.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan said civilians had been hit and two children were killed, warning of consequences for Tehran.
Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Iran on Wednesday in protest at what it called a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.
FEAR OF INCREASING
Pakistan’s comments after its counterattack signaled a desire to keep the dispute alive, but analysts warned it could be let go.
“Iran’s motivation for attacking Pakistan remains unclear but given Iran’s broader behavior in the region it could increase,” Asfandyr Mir, senior expert on South Asia security at the US Institute of Peace, told Reuters.
“What will cause concern in Tehran is that Pakistan has crossed the line by attacking inside Iranian territory, a threshold that even the US and Israel have been careful not to cross.”
Pakistani police officers stand guard outside Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry building in Islamabad on January 18, 2024, after the country launched an attack inside Iran. AFP via Getty Images
Both target groups operate in an area that includes Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan and Sistan-Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran. Both are turbulent, rich in minerals and largely underdeveloped.
The BLF, which is Islamabad’s target inside Iran, launched an armed insurgency against the Pakistani state.
This includes hitting Chinese nationals and investments in Balochistan, which is Pakistan’s largest province by land area, but the least populated and developed. A large part is lawless.
Jaish al Adl (JAA), which is targeted by Iran, is also an ethnic militant group, but with a Sunni Islamic bent that is seen mainly by Iranian Shiites as a threat.
Pakistani Army soldiers stand near a nuclear-capable missile at the International Defense Exhibition on November 27, 2008. AFP via Getty Images
The group has carried out attacks in Iran against the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In its previous incarnation as Jundallah, the group had pledged allegiance to the Iraq- and Syria-based jihadist group, the Islamic State.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
