By : Amir Sajjad
The Pakistani reaction came a day after Iran carried out airstrikes employing “drones and missiles” against Jaish al-Adl, an armed group, near Panjgur city in Pakistan’s southwestern territory of Balochistan, bordering Iran.
Prior to Pakistan’s missile strike, Iran’s Foreign Minister said the country’s forces targeted the Jaish al-Adl group, describing it as a “terrorist” organization. Then, in response, Pakistan conducted a knowledge-based operation against hideouts of armed groups in the Sistan-Baluchistan territory of Iran.
Pakistan’s military stated that the target of the attack was the Baluchistan Freedom Armed Force and the Baluchistan Freedom Front, both separatist groups in the region spanning both nations.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry described the operation as a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes. The ministry, in its statement on Thursday, mentioned that over the past few years, Iran had been informed about safe havens used by armed rebel groups seeking secession for Balochistan.
According to Iranian media reports, at least nine people are dead after the strikes, but earlier, an official stated that those killed included four children and three women.
Images that appeared to show the munitions used in the attack were shared online by HalVash, a Baluch advocacy group. It stated that various homes had been struck in Saravan, a city in the Iranian territory of Sistan and Baluchistan.
However, despite both sides targeting the same group of insurgents located on either side of their mutual border, the apparent tit-for-tat exchange has heightened local tensions and raised concerns about a larger regional conflict stemming from Israel’s war in Gaza.
After Iran’s strike in Pakistan, Iranian authorities claimed that the operation had targeted aggressors who threatened Iran. However, Pakistani authorities dismissed that account, citing what they said were civilian casualties from the strike.
Yet, one side of the argument also contends that the attack by Iran in Pakistan is a preemptive strike because the issue of the Red Sea is on the rise nowadays.
This is why Iran wants to warn Pakistan about the future, asserting that before providing Air Bases to America, Pakistan should consider that Iran can also prevent a conflict. However, this argument is rebutted shortly after the Pakistan missile strike on Iran.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
