Pakistan’s ’serious consequences’ warning after Iran attacks in Balochistan kill 2

mangaloretoday.com

Balochistan, Jan 17, 2024: Pakistan early on Wednesday said two children died and three girls were injured after Iran claimed it struck two "important" bases of the Jaish ul-Adl terror group in Balochistan province.

 

According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), two bases of the Jaish ul-Adl terror group in Balochistan province were destroyed with drones and missiles, state media reported.

State-run Mehr news agency reported that the Jaish ul-Adl’s bases targeted in the Kuhe Sabz area were one of the largest bases of the terror group. "These bases were hit and destroyed by missiles and drones," Iranian state media reported, without elaborating.

In a statement issued in the early hours of Wednesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Islamabad "strongly condemned" what it called an "unprovoked violation" of its airspace.

It said the strikes killed two "innocent" children and injured three girls and added that the incident was "completely unacceptable" and could have "serious consequences". However, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry did not mention the location of the incident nor the nature of the airspace violation.

Denouncing Iran’s strikes as an "illegal act", Pakistan said it lodged a strong protest with a senior official in the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran. Islamabad also summoned the Iranian Charge d’Affaires over the incident.

"The responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran," it said.

The Jaish ul-Adl terror group has previously mounted attacks on Iranian security forces in the border area with Pakistan, Reuters reported.

Earlier, the IRGC said they attacked what it called the "espionage headquarters" of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late on Monday. The elite force said they also struck in Syria against the Islamic State terror group.

In addition to those strikes northeast of Kurdistan’s capital Erbil in a residential area near the US consulate, the IRGC said they launched attacks against the "perpetrators of terrorist operations" in Iran, including the Islamic State, according to Reuters.

No US facilities were impacted by the missile strikes, two US officials told Reuters.

The strikes came amid concerns about the escalation of a conflict that has spread through the Middle East since the war between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas began on October 7 last year, with Iran’s allies also entering the fray from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Iran, which backs Hamas in its war with Israel, has accused the US of backing what it calls Israeli war crimes in Gaza. The US has said it supported Israel in its military campaign in Gaza but has raised concerns about the number of Palestinian civilians killed.

Courtesy: India Today