Islamabad: Iran has launched airstrikes on Pakistan territory, apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group, in the latest sign of a wave of violence rolling across the Middle East and beyond.
The attack comes after Iran launched missiles in northern Iraq and Syria Monday, in the latest escalation of hostilities in the Middle East where Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza risks spiralling into a wider regional conflict.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded rebuke of the strikes, said the attack on its territory killed “two innocent children” and warned Iran of “serious consequences.”
The Iranian airstrikes inside Pakistan come weeks after Tehran accused Jaish al-Adl militants of storming a police station in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, which killed 11 Iranian police officers.
Iran said it used ” precision missile and drone strikes,” to destroy two strongholds of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl.
Jaish al-Adl was founded in 2012 and largely operates across the border in Pakistan. The militants have claimed bombing and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past.
Iran has fought in border areas against the militants, but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan is unprecedented for Iran. Iranian reports described the strikes as happening in the mountains of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province.
