Iran, Pakistan in tit-for-tat strikes
TERROR: NATIONS BATTLING SIMMERING INSURGENCIES
Tehran, Islamabad accuse each other of allowing militants in other’s territory.
Pakistan said yesterday it carried out strikes against militant targets in Iran, with Tehran reporting a death toll of nine civilians after staging its own air raid in Pakistan earlier this week.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan and neighbouring Iran are both battling simmering insurgencies along their sparsely populated border regions.
The cross-border attacks add to multiple crises across the Middle East, with Israel waging a war against Hamas in Gaza and Huthi rebels in Yemen attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
“This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts” in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.
It said the action was taken in light of “credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities”, adding that “a number of terrorists were killed”.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that at least three women and four children were killed in blasts around the southeastern city of Saravan, later adding that two men had also died.
Iran’s foreign ministry summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires “for an explanation”, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Tehran and Islamabad frequently accuse each other of allowing militants to operate from the other’s territory to launch attacks, but it is rare that official forces on either side engage.
“Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” its foreign ministry said.
“The sole objective of today’s act was in pursuit of Pakistan’s own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised.”
Beijing said yesterday it was willing to mediate between Pakistan and Iran following the exchange of fire in their border region. “The Chinese side sincerely hopes the two sides can exercise calm and restraint and avoid an escalation of tension,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
The US on Wednesday condemned the Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria. –