Iran Attacked Pak's Balochistan Hours After Top Leaders Met In Davos

Iran fired missiles at Pakistan's Balochistan province on Tuesday night, just hours after Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister met the Iranian Foreign Minister in Davos. Pakistan's Anwaar ul Haq Kakar met Iran's Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Pakistan said the strike hit the Panjgur region in southwest Balochistan province, near the 1,000 kilometre border shared by the two countries. Iranian news agency Tasnim News, associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which carried out the attacks, shared purported videos of the aftermath of the strikes.

🔴مشاهد اولية لمقرات جماعات "جيش العدل"الإرهـ.ابية في جبال بلوشستان الحدودية مع #ايران#أربيل#ابو_عبيدة#باكستان#العراق#اليمن_قول_وفعلpic.twitter.com/nienM3tItl

— وكالة تسنيم للأنباء (@Tasnimarabic) January 16, 2024

The videos, which appear to have been recorded by locals, show smoke rising from a destroyed structure in the sparsely populated area. Multiple fires can be seen inside the demolished building while most of it is covered in debris.

Tuesday's attack comes as a surprise as the two countries rarely engage their forces even though they are known to frequently accuse each other of supporting militancy in their territories.

While Iran has not released any statement on the attack, a state-run news agency said the missiles targeted and destroyed the Pakistani headquarters of Jaish al-Adl or "Army of Justice", which was blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group. It has carried out multiple attacks in Iran in the last few years.

"Minutes ago, two important headquarters of the so called Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group was targeted in Pakistan. These headquarters were destroyed by rockets and drones," Nour News agency said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Pakistan slammed Iran over the strikes, which it said killed two children and injured three girls. It also labelled the attack "completely unacceptable" in a statement on Wednesday.

"This violation of Pakistan's sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences. It is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran," the statement by Pakistan's foreign ministry read.

Pakistan also said it has summoned Tehran's top diplomat in Islamabad to protest the "unprovoked violation of its airspace", adding that such strikes do not conform with "good neighbourly relations".

"Pakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action," the statement said.

In December, Jaish al-Adl has targeted an Iranian police station and killed as many as 11 police officers. The group, which was formed in 2012, has also been designated as a terror organisation by the US for attacking security personnel, government officials and carrying out suicide bombings.