Calling Iran a “brotherly country”, Islamabad said that the action was a “manifestation of Pakistan’s unflinching resolve” to protect and defend its national security against all threats.

Islamabad: Following Iran’s deadly missile and drone strike in Balochistan, Pakistan on Thursday launched air raids on militant targets within Iranian territory. This comes a day after Islamabad warned Tehran of “serious consequences” over its attack on the Baloch group Jaish al-Adl’s headquarters in its territory. According to the semi-official Young Journalist Club news agency, several missiles were launched from Pakistan’s direction hit a border village in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province. The official added that at least three women and four children were killed in one of the explosions, specifying that none were Iranian nationals.

“This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran,” the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in an official statement.

Calling Iran a “brotherly country”, Islamabad said that the action was a “manifestation of Pakistan’s unflinching resolve” to protect and defend its national security against all threats. “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,” the Ministry said, adding that Islamabad “fully respects” the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran.

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Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar

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— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) January 18, 2024

“Over the last several years, in our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani origin terrorists  calling themselves ‘Sarmachars’ on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran,” the statement read further.

On Wednesday, Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Iran and suspended all planned high-level bilateral visits, hours after Tehran launched unprecedented missile and drone strikes on what it said were directed at the bases of a terrorist group in the restive Balochistan province.

Two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group ‘Jaish al-Adl’ in Pakistan’s unruly Balochistan province were targeted by missiles and drones on Tuesday, Iranian state media reported, a day after Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles.

Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice”, is a Baloch Sunni militant group founded in 2012 that largely operates in Pakistan. Iran has fought in border areas against the militants, but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan would be unprecedented for Iran.