Pakistan carries out military strikes on alleged militant positions in Iran

On Thursday morning, January 18, Pakistan launched a series of military strikes on what it said were separatist militant hideouts situated in the southeast of Iran, according to CNN.

These attacks were seemingly carried out in response to Iran’s attacks on two bases of the terrorist group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reiterated in its statement that it considers Iran as “friends and brothers” and “has no interest in escalating any situation”. It also adds that Pakistan “fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Iran.

Sistan and Baluchistan province’s deputy governor Alireza Marhamati said in an interview on state television that at least seven people had been killed following explosions and that the dead included three women and four children, who were foreign citizens.

Pakistan had announced Wednesday it was recalling its ambassador to Iran and suspending all bilateral engagements with the country to protest an overnight “unprovoked” deadly cross-border airstrike by Iranian security forces that reportedly killed two children.