Pakistan conducts 'precision military strikes' against 'terrorist hideouts' in Iran

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said that its air force conducted "precision military strikes" against "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province, a day after Islamabad recalled its ambassador from Tehran and suspended all planned high-level bilateral visits in the wake of Iranian missile and drone strikes in Balochistan.

"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran," the Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday morning.

It said a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation — codenamed "Marg Bar Sarmachar".

"Over the last several years, in our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani origin terrorists calling themselves Sarmachars on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran. Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists,” the statement said.

"However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. This morning's action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities by these so-called Sarmachars," it added.

"This action is a manifestation of Pakistan’s unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats. The successful execution of this highly complex operation is also a testimony to the professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces," the Foreign Office said, adding that Pakistan will continue to take all necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is "sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred."

On Wednesday, Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Iran and suspended all planned high-level bilateral visits, hours after Tehran launched unprecedented missile and drone strikes on what it said were directed at the bases of a terrorist group in the restive Balochistan province.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch in a terse statement read out to the media on Wednesday said that the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan who is currently visiting Iran may not return to Islamabad for the time being. Pakistan also reserves the right to retaliate to the provocation by Iran, she had said.

Two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group 'Jaish al-Adl' in Pakistan's unruly Balochistan province were targeted by missiles and drones on Tuesday, Iranian state media reported, a day after Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles.

Jaish al-Adl, or the "Army of Justice", is a Baloch Sunni militant group founded in 2012 that largely operates in Pakistan. Iran has fought in border areas against the militants, but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan would be unprecedented for Iran.

Iran's attack and Pakistan's retaliatory strikes have raised tensions in the volatile region, already roiled by Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the targeting of the merchant ships in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis.

On Wednesday, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani told his Iranian counterpart that the unprecedented attack by Iran seriously damaged the ties between the two nations.

Jilani, who is currently leading the Pakistan delegation to the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, in a telephonic conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stressed that the attack conducted by Iran inside the Pakistani territory on January 16 was not only a serious breach of Islamabad's sovereignty but also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran, the Foreign Office said in an earlier statement.

"Expressing Pakistan’s unreserved condemnation of the attack, the foreign minister added that the incident has caused serious damage to bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran,” the statement said.

The Pakistani foreign minister added that his country reserved the right to respond to this provocative act.

Stressing that terrorism was a common threat to the region and required concerted and coordinated efforts to combat this menace, Jilani underlined that unilateral actions could seriously undermine regional peace and stability.

"No country in the region should tread this perilous path," the minister told his Iranian counterpart. Traditional warm ties between the two neighbours nose-dived to the lowest ebb after the unprecedented attack by the Iranian forces in the country’s southwest.