On Tuesday, Iran launched attacks on alleged militant bases in Pakistan linked to the terror group Jaish al-Adl.
Pakistan strongly condemned the attack, calling it an “unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran.”
The Attack
Iranian media reported that Tehran struck two headquarters of the militant group in Koh Sabz (Green Mountain) in Pakistan’s Baluchistan.
The region, which was the focal point of the operation, is purportedly one of the largest headquarters of Jaish al-Adl.
According to reports by the Tasnim news agency, the bases were targeted and destroyed by a combination of missile and drone attacks.
Further, Iranian news outlet Fararu reported that the attack was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and has been officially confirmed.
#Iran has launched drone and missile attacks on bases belonging to militant group Jaish al-Adl in #Pakistan, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports.https://t.co/vf5awtPWGG pic.twitter.com/jUhYJzMSKO
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) January 16, 2024
While the Iranian state-run news agency IRNA reported the attacks at first, reports of the incident were later taken down from state media.
Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) is known in Iran as Jaysh al-Dhulm. It is a Sunni militant group established in 2012 and operating in Shia-majority Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan Baluchistan.
Last month, the group attacked a police station in the region, killing 11 Iranian police officers.
Pakistan Condemns Attack
The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) release said that the strike resulted in the death of two children and injured three girls.
“This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences,” the release read.
“It is even more concerning that this illegal attack has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran,” the MoFA added.
Pakistan lodged protests with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and summoned the Iranian Charge d’Affaires to the MoFA to convey its condemnation of the “blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.”
Notably, the attacks came as Pakistani caretaker PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The MoFA said that the responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran. It further stated that coordinated action is necessary to combat terrorism, as it poses a common threat to all countries in the region.
“Such unilateral acts are not in conformity with good neighbourly relations and can seriously undermine bilateral trust and confidence,” it added.
Iran’s Anti-Terror Attacks
The attacks come a day after Iran launched missile strikes in Iraq and Syria.
Iran claimed that the IRGC had attacked an espionage centre of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
It also claimed to have hit targets allegedly linked to ISIS in northern Syria.
The missile strikes came in response to a double suicide bombing in the Kerman province on 13 January, which killed around 100 people during a ceremony to commemorate slain commander Qassim Soleimani.
Pakistan strongly condemned the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that the strike inside Pakistani territory killed two children and injured three girls.https://t.co/uQrvk2cB7L
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) January 17, 2024
The Afghan ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Iran’s latest attacks carry the possibility of intensifying tensions in the Middle East, which has been plagued by severe political and humanitarian issues since the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Additionally, the conflict seems to be spreading further with the Houthi blockade of the Red Sea and the US and UK coming into the fray as they counter Houthi strikes.