Tensions between Pakistan and Iran escalated on Thursday as both countries carried out cross-border strikes against militant groups, resulting in at least nine civilian deaths and several injuries.
Pakistan said it had launched “a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes” against terrorist hideouts in Iran’s Sistan-o-Baluchistan province on Wednesday night, killing “a number of terrorists”.
The operation, codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’ (Death to the Guerrilla Fighters), was a response to Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Tuesday, which Iran claimed were aimed at a Pakistan-based insurgent group, Jaish al-Adl.
