Islamabad has struck several “terrorist” targets on its neighbor’s soil, according to unconfirmed reports
Pakistan has carried out air strikes on a militant group operating from Iranian territory, an intelligence source in Islamabad told AFP. Multiple blasts were heard near a border region in Iran’s southernmost province on Thursday morning, according to Iranian state media.
“Several explosions” were reported from multiple sites around the city of Saravan early on Thursday morning, an unnamed Iranian official told the state-affiliated IRNA news agency.
An anonymous Pakistani intelligence official acknowledged the air raids, but shared few other details, according to AFP. Meanwhile, the Hindustan Times and other Indian media reported that “Baloch separatist camps situated inside Iranian territory” were targeted in the raids.
The reported military action came soon after Tehran claimed credit for a series of missile and drone strikes on Pakistan’s western Balochistan region, with Tehran’s Foreign Ministry saying it targeted members of Jaish al-Adli, which it labeled a “terrorist group.”
Islamabad was quick to condemn the strikes as an “unprovoked violation of its airspace” and warned of “serious consequences” in response. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said the attack killed “two innocent children,” and later recalled its envoy from Tehran.
“Last night’s unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty by Iran is a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mumtaz Baloch said in a televised address, adding “Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this illegal act.”
Iran had accused Jaish al-Adli militants of storming a police station in its southern province of Sistan and Baluchistan last month, which reportedly left 11 police officers dead, according to Tasnim News. Also known as the “Army of Justice,” the armed separatist group operates on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border and has taken credit for a series of previous attacks on Iranian targets.
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