Pakistan's foreign ministry said it carried out an attack inside Iran targeting separatist militants on Thursday, two days after Tehran said it had attacked an Israeli-linked militant base in Pakistani territory.
The neighbors have had a rocky relationship in the past, but the latest attack was the highest-profile cross-border intrusion in recent years, and the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Iran was demanding an explanation.
Iranian media reported that several missiles landed in a village in Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan, killing three non-Iranian women and four children.
Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that “a number of terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation,” which it described as “a series of highly coordinated, highly targeted and precision military attacks against terrorist hideouts.” He explained.
“Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the ministry added in a statement.
“The sole purpose of today's actions is to pursue Pakistan's own security and national interests, which are of paramount importance and cannot be compromised.”
Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing unnamed officials, said the Iranian government had asked Islamabad for an explanation about the airstrike.
Pakistani sources told Reuters the attack was carried out by military aircraft.
“Our military conducted an attack targeting Baloch militants inside Iran,” said an intelligence official in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
“The targeted militants belong to the BLF,” he added, referring to the Balochistan Liberation Front, which seeks independence for Pakistan's Balochistan province.
Iran announced on Tuesday that it had targeted Israeli-linked militant bases in Pakistan.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan said civilians were attacked, killing two children, and warned of consequences for which Iran would be held accountable.
Islamabad on Wednesday recalled Iran's ambassador in protest of a “blatant violation” of its sovereignty.
fear of escalation
Pakistan's comments after the retaliatory strikes signaled a desire to contain the conflict, but analysts warned it could get out of hand.
Asfandir Mir, senior South Asia security expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace, told Reuters: “Iran's motives for attacking Pakistan remain unclear, but given Iran's wide range of actions in the region, the actions are likely to escalate. It's possible,” he said.
“What worries Tehran is that Pakistan has crossed the line by invading Iranian territory, a threshold that even the United States and Israel have been careful not to breach.”
Both targeted groups operate in areas including Balochistan province in southwestern Pakistan and Sistan-Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran. Both are resistant, rich in minerals, and mostly underdeveloped.
The BLF, targeted by Islamabad inside Iran, is waging an armed insurgency against the Pakistani state.
This includes hurting Chinese nationals and investing in Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province by land but the least populated and least developed. Large servings are lawless areas.
Jaish al-Adl (JAA), which Iran targeted, is also an ethnic extremist group, but it tends to be Sunni Muslim, and Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, views it as a threat.
The group carried out attacks against the powerful Revolutionary Guards in Iran.
The group, formerly known as Jundallah, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, a jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria.
