Tension rises as Pak strikes kill 9 in Iran
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Pakistan said it used killer drones and rockets to strike separatist Baloch militants inside Iran yesterday, in a retaliatory strike two days after Tehran said it attacked the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.
Iranian media said several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders Pakistan, killing at least nine people, including four children.
The neighbours have had rocky ties in the past, but the strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and come amid growing worries about instability in the Middle East since the Israeli offensive on Gaza started on Oct 7.
As tensions flared, world and regional powers urged both countries to take measures to de-escalate the tensions.
"A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation," Pakistan's foreign ministry said, describing it as a "series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts".
"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 added.
A senior Pakistani security official told Reuters the military was on "extremely" high alert and would meet any "misadventure" from the Iranian side forcefully.
Tehran strongly condemned the strikes, saying civilians were killed, and summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires, its most senior diplomat in Iran, to explain.
"The information received indicates that four children, three women and two men, who were foreign nationals, have been killed in the explosion that occurred in a village," Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV.
The strikes took place at around 4:30 am, with three drones destroying four houses in a village near the city of Saravan, IRNA said, citing Alireza Marhamati, deputy governor of the province.
All those killed were Pakistanis and investigations were ongoing to determine why they were in the Iranian village, Marhamati said.
In Islamabad, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar would cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos and return home.
"The precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons," a Pakistani military statement said. It said the targets were bases used by the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the associated Baloch Liberation Army.
Iran said on Tuesday it had hit targets inside Pakistan that it alleged were bases of Jaish al Adl (JAA). Nuclear-armed Pakistan said civilians were hit and two children killed, warning of consequences for which Tehran would be responsible.
Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Iran on Wednesday in protest against a "blatant breach" of its sovereignty. It has also blocked Tehran's envoy from returning to Islamabad.
ESCALATION FEARS
Iran had been flexing its muscles in the region, even before its cross-border incursion into Pakistan.
It launched strikes on Syria against what Tehran said were Islamic State sites and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage centre. Baghdad recalled its ambassador from Tehran.
China yesterday offered to mediate between Pakistan and Iran, both close economic partners of Beijing.
The European Union expressed concern about the "spiral of violence in the Middle East and beyond".
India also released statements saying the tit-for-tat strikes as "a matter between Iran and Pakistan". The Indian foreign ministry, however, said it "understands actions countries take in self-defence".
The US State Department criticised Iran for violating the sovereign borders of three nations in 48 hours. However, it didn't release any statement after the Pakistani strikes.
Russia yesterday urged Islamabad and Tehran to de-escalate tensions "through political and diplomatic means".
Pakistan's comments after its retaliatory strikes signal a desire to keep the row contained, but analysts warned it could get out of hand.
"Iran's motivation for attacking Pakistan remains opaque but in light of broader Iranian behaviour in the region it can escalate," Asfandyr Mir, a senior expert on South Asia security at the US Institute of Peace, told Reuters.
"What will cause anxiety in Tehran is that Pakistan has crossed a line by hitting inside Iranian territory, a threshold that even the US and Israel have been careful to not breach."
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