Pakistan launches retaliatory air strikes on alleged militant hideouts in Iran, seven killed

Pakistan said on Thursday that it has launched air strikes on alleged militant hideouts in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province.

Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA reported that three women and four children were killed in the Pakistani strikes.

The military’s action comes two days after Iran attacked the alleged bases of the militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan’s Balochistan province using missiles and drones. The Iranian strikes killed two children and injured three others, Pakistan had said.

Islamabad had described Tehran’s air strikes on its territory as an “unprovoked violation” of its airspace.

In its statement on Thursday, Islamabad claimed that “a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation”.

It also said that in recent years, Pakistani officials had raised concerns about the safe havens “enjoyed by Pakistani-origin terrorists calling themselves ‘Sarmachars’ on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran”.

The statement said that Pakistan “fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Iran. “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,” it said.

Calling Iran a “brotherly country”, it said that Islamabad and Tehran need to find solutions to their bilateral problems through a dialogue.

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