The Pakistani foreign ministry stated on Thursday that Pakistan had launched retaliatory strikes on what it referred to as "terrorist hideouts" inside Iran in retaliation for Tehran's attack against accused terrorists on its soil, which Islamabad said resulted in the deaths of two youngsters.
The strikes are the highest-profile cross-border attacks in recent years and come amid growing concerns about instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas started on Oct. 7.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian confirmed Tehran’s strikes inside Pakistan, saying they had targeted militants from the Jash Al-Adil group a day earlier.
In response, Pakistan has conducted retaliatory strikes.
“This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokesperson for the Pakistani foreign ministry, said at a press briefing on Thursday.
“A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation, codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar.’”
“Marg bar” means “death to” in the Farsi language. In contrast “sarmachar” means guerrilla in the local Baloch language and is used by militants operating in the cross-border region that comprises Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, as well as Iran’s neighboring southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province. Both regions have faced a low-level insurgency by Baloch separatists for decades.
In a separate statement, the Pakistan army said that it had carried out the “precision strikes” using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions, and stand-off weapons, taking “maximum care” to avoid collateral damage. The military said it had struck hideouts of the Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front, separatist groups that have led a low-level insurgency against Pakistan for years.
The strikes are the highest-profile cross-border attacks in recent years and come amid growing concerns about instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas started on Oct. 7.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian confirmed Tehran’s strikes inside Pakistan, saying they had targeted militants from the Jash Al-Adil group a day earlier.
In response, Pakistan has conducted retaliatory strikes.
“This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokesperson for the Pakistani foreign ministry, said at a press briefing on Thursday.
“A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation, codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar.’”
“Marg bar” means “death to” in the Farsi language. In contrast “sarmachar” means guerrilla in the local Baloch language and is used by militants operating in the cross-border region that comprises Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, as well as Iran’s neighboring southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province. Both regions have faced a low-level insurgency by Baloch separatists for decades.
In a separate statement, the Pakistan army said that it had carried out the “precision strikes” using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions, and stand-off weapons, taking “maximum care” to avoid collateral damage. The military said it had struck hideouts of the Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front, separatist groups that have led a low-level insurgency against Pakistan for years.
