Waqar Baloch, based in the bordering town of Jaheen in Balochistan’s Panjur, was all set for his wedding next week. But for a groom, his anxiety was of a different kind— half of his family was in Iran, where Israel is waging a war.

The ongoing standoff between Tehran and Tel Aviv has sent ripples across the Middle East, with both sides refusing to drop their guns. But while the global attention is fixated on the Mashriq, the conflict — which is feared to spiral into a third world war — has disrupted daily life in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and most underdeveloped province.

The province, which shares a 909-kilometre border with Iran, has been reeling from food shortages, a surge in fuel prices, the risk of unemployment, and heightened security concerns ever since the Iran-Israel war broke out. Families like Waqar’s are bearing the brunt of these tensions.

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