Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan attacked Iran with “highly coordinated” military strikes on Thursday morning, just over 24 hours after Iranian airstrikes in Balochistan, further raising tensions between the neighbors and raising fears of a broader conflict.
On Thursday morning, according to a statement from its Foreign Ministry, Pakistan carried out what it called an “intelligence-based operation” against hideouts of armed groups in the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan.
Codenamed 'Marg Bar Sarmachar' (Death to Saramchar), it led to the deaths of “a number of terrorists”, Pakistan claimed, without specifying how many people were killed.
The response comes a day after Iran launched airstrikes using “drones and missiles” against Jaish al-Adl, an armed group, near the town of Panjgur in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, bordering with Iran. Tehran has accused Jaish al-Adl of multiple attacks in the past.
Pakistan reacted to the Iranian attack, which killed two children and injured three others, calling it “unacceptable” and said the country reserves the right to respond to this “illegal act.”
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Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar
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The ministry in its statement on Thursday said that over the past few years, Iran has been informed about safe havens enjoyed by armed rebel groups seeking the secession of Balochistan, the southwestern province of Pakistan that borders Iran.
“Pakistan also shared multiple files with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists,” the ministry said.
However, he added, due to the Iranian government's lack of action, Pakistan says it decided to respond considering “credible intelligence.”
“Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sole objective of today's event was the pursuit of Pakistan's own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised,” the statement added.
The Iranian government has not yet acknowledged the Pakistani attack.
Pakistan had earlier recalled its envoy from Tehran in a series of moves to show its displeasure over the Iranian attack. He also said he would ban Iran's ambassador in Islamabad, who is currently outside Pakistan, from returning to the mission.
Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar met Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Switzerland on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, hours before Iran's attack.
However, on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian said the attack on “Pakistan land” was in response to the group's recent attacks on the Iranian city of Rask in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.
Emphasizing that while Iran respected Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said the country will not make concessions on its own security.
“The group has taken refuge in some parts of Pakistan's Balochistan province. We have spoken several times with Pakistani officials about this matter,” he added.
