Jan 18, 2024
Concerns are growing over the stability of the Middle East as a new bout of violence erupted between Pakistan and Iran.
The region has become increasingly unsettled as Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza continues to rise in intensity, with the UK and US participating in airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Iran carried out an attack in the Baluchistan province of south-western Pakistan which killed two children.
Tehran said the strikes were aimed at military bases that were linked to Israel.
In retaliation, Pakistan fired its own airstrikes on the Iranian city of Saravan, less than 50 miles from the border between the two countries.
Ali Reza Marhamati, a deputy governor of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, told state TV that the attack had killed at least nine people including four children and three women.
He did not immediately elaborate.
In its own statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it had carried out ‘a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes’.
Iran attack devastates property in Panjgur, Pakistan
It continued: ‘This morning’s action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities.
‘This action is a manifestation of Pakistan’s unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats.’
Yesterday, the country recalled its ambassador to Tehran following Tuesday’s strikes on the Pakistani portion of Baluchistan.
Parts of the region are split between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists has caused some unrest over the past two decades.
A source in Pakistani intelligence told news agency Reuters that this morning’s strikes targeted militants in the Baluch Liberation Front.
The cross-border skirmishes are the highest-profile intrusions between Iran and Pakistan in several years.
Iran’s claim that it was aiming to attack Israel-linked military bases in its Tuesday strikes demonstrates how interconnected the various ongoing Middle East crises are.
Tehran strongly supports militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, who are both currently engaged in deadly conflict with Israel, as well as the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have been the targets of Western airstrikes after weeks of attacks in the Red Sea.
– metro.uk
