QUETTA: Iran laun­ched attacks in Pakistan on Tuesday targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl in the border town of Panjgur in Balochistan, the Iranian state media reported, prompting strong condemnation from Islamabad.

“Two key strongholds of the Jaysh al-Dhulm (Jaish al-Adl) terrorist group in Pakistan” were “specifically targeted and successfully demolished by a combination of missile and drone attacks”, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

Jaish al-Adl has previously mounted attacks on Iranian security forces in the border area with Pakistan. Tuesday’s attack in Balochistan came a day after Iran’s elite Revo­lutionary Guards attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles.

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.

“This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday night. The statement didn’t mention the location of the attacks.

Tasnim reported that the “focal point of this operation was the region known as Kouh-Sabz (green mountain)” in Balochistan.

Local authorities said they had also received information about such an attack, but had no further details at the time of going to print. Reports from the area suggested that a missile hit a mosque, partially damaging it and injuring some people.

In its statement, the foreign office described the incident as an “illegal act”.

It said a strong protest had been lodged with Tehran, while the Iranian charge d’affaires had been called to MoFA to convey “strongest condemnation of this blatant violation”.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2024