Pakistan Launches Strikes on Iran's Saravan Region, Sistan, Balochistan Provinces - Reports
18.01.2024 09:44
Pakistan Launches Strikes on Iran's Saravan Region, Sistan, Balochistan Provinces - Reports
Photo: AFP 2023 / BULENT KILIC
"The sound of several explosions was heard in several areas around Saravan," Iranian news agency Mehr quoted Marhamati as saying.
According to reports, the strikes appear to be retaliation for Iran's attacks, and are the first on Iranian territory since the Iran-Iraq war.
Following reports of a "missile and drone attack" by Pakistan on several targets in the areas around Saravan in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balochistan, bordering Pakistan, Iranian state television confirmed several explosions in Saravan, citing security officials in the province.
"Three women and four non-Iranian children were killed in the incident," Iranian state television and radio quoted the deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchistan as saying.
Pakistan's military carried out overnight attacks in the territory of Iran against "anti-Pakistan militant groups," AFP reported Thursday, citing a senior intelligence source not authorized to give information to the media.
"I can only confirm that we have conducted strikes against anti-Pakistan militant groups that were targeted inside Iran," the source told the agency, adding that the government would provide official information in a statement later in the morning.
Pakistan has carried out a series of precision strikes against "terrorist hideouts" inside Iran, which killed a number of "terrorists," the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. A number of terrorists were killed during the Intelligence-based operation – codenamed *‘Marg Bar Sarmachar'*," the ministry said in a statement on the website.
The ministry also said Islamabad "fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran," adding that "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."
Pakistani aircraft have entered the airspace of Iran and successfully returned after delivering strikes on hideouts on its territory, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a source.
On Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles and drones at a base of the terrorist group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan region in retaliation for terrorist attacks on its own territory.
This was the first missile strike by the Iranian Armed Forces on Pakistani territory. Islamabad said that the attack left two children dead and three people injured, and condemned Iran's actions as well as voiced concerns over Tehran not forewarning Islamabad about the strikes via existing communication channels.
In a call with his Pakistani counterpart on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan. He also expressed hope that the two countries would continue cooperation, particularly on security.