By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it had carried out air strikes on Baloch militant groups in Iran, two days after Iran said it had bombed “terrorist targets” in Pakistan, in a rare exchange of cross-border raids that raised tensions between the neighbours.
The surprising tit-for-tat airstrikes escalated tensions between the two countries, who very rarely accused each other in public of harboring and supporting militant groups that operate across their porous border.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office said it had launched “a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes” against terrorist hideouts in Sistan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran, killing a number of terrorists in an operation codenamed “Marg Bar Sarmachar,” or “Death to Rebels.”
The statement said Pakistan had repeatedly shared its concerns with Iran about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani-origin terrorists in the ungoverned spaces inside Iran, who had continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity.
“This action is a manifestation of Pakistan’s unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats,” the statement added. “The successful execution of this highly complex operation is also a testimony to the professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces.”
The statement said Pakistan fully respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran, and that the sole objective of the strikes was to pursue its own security and national interest, which could not be compromised.
It also said that Pakistan upheld the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter, including territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states, and that it would never allow its sovereignty and territorial integrity to be challenged, under any pretext or circumstances.
“Iran is a brotherly country and the people of Pakistan have great respect and affection for the Iranian people,” the statement said. “We have always emphasized dialogue and cooperation in confronting common challenges, including the menace of terrorism, and will continue to endeavor to find joint solutions.”
The military it had carried out precision strikes against terrorist hideouts in neighbouring Iran, killing several militants who were behind recent attacks in Pakistan.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a statement the strikes were carried out in the early hours of Thursday, using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons.
“In early hours of 18 January 2024, Pakistan carried out effective strikes against hideouts inside Iran used by terrorists responsible for recent attacks in Pakistan,” the ISPR said.
“Hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front were successfully struck in an intelligence based operation, code name ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’.”
The ISPR named some of the terrorists killed in the strikes, including Dosta alias Chairman, Bajjar alias Soghat, Sahil alias Shafaq, Asghar alias Basham and Wazir alias Wazi.
It said the Pakistan armed forces remain in a perpetual state of readiness to ensure the safety of its citizens against acts of terrorism.
“Our resolve to ensure that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan is respected and safeguarded against any misadventure, remains unwavering,” the statement said.
“Going forward, dialogue and cooperation is deemed prudent in resolving bilateral issues between the two neighbouring brotherly countries.”
Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that at least three women and four children were killed in the Pakistani strikes on its southeast border region.
“Pakistan attacked an Iranian border village with missiles,” state television said, quoting Alireza Marhamati, deputy provincial governor of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan Province.
“Three women and four children were killed in this incident. All non-Iranian nationals,” he added, noting that the attack targeted a village near the city of Saravan on the border with Pakistan.
“Following the early morning attack by Pakistan on a border village in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, an hour ago the Pakistani charge d’affaires in Tehran was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for an explanation,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
In a press briefing later in the day, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, who is currently in Switzerland for the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, had decided to cut short his visit “in light of the developments.”
The Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, who is in Uganda to attend a ministerial meeting of the nonaligned movement, has also decided to return to the country.
Baloch asserted that Pakistan desired peaceful relations with all countries, including Iran. “But we have also said that Pakistan’s security and sovereignty is sacrosanct, and Pakistan remains ready and is willing to protect itself.”
Pakistan’s air strikes came after Iranian media reported that Iranian forces had targeted two key strongholds of the militant Jaish al-Adl group in Pakistan and successfully demolished them by a combination of missile and drone attacks late on Tuesday.
The Iranian semi-official Tasnim news agency said the “focal point of this operation was the region known as Kouh-Sabz in Balochistan”, referring to a mountainous area in Pakistan’s southwestern province, where Baloch separatists and Sunni militants have been active for years.
Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, is a Sunni militant group that claims to fight for the rights of Iran’s Baloch minority and has been accused of carrying out several attacks on Iranian security forces and civilians in the past.
Pakistan, following the attack, recalled its ambassador to Iran and suspended all high-level visits between the two countries, escalating a diplomatic crisis over the cross-border airstrike by Tehran.
The airstrikes marked a rare escalation of hostilities between Pakistan and Iran, who share a 565-mile border that is often a flash point for sectarian violence, drug trafficking, and cross-border attacks by Baloch separatists and Sunni militants.
The Baloch insurgency in Pakistan has intensified in recent years, with several militant groups carrying out attacks on security forces, government officials, and infrastructure projects, especially those linked to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which the country sees as a key driver of its economic development.
The recent airstrikes have exposed the fragility of bilateral relations and the challenges of dealing with the complex and volatile security situation in Balochistan.
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