Pakistan criticizes the fatal Iranian missile attacks on its soil.

Pakistan criticizes the fatal Iranian missile attacks on its soil.

Two children were killed in an apparent missile attack from Iran that headed towards militant facilities in western Pakistan, based on officials in Islamabad.

Pakistan, Per Iran’s state TV, the operation targeted two locations in Balochistan associated with the extremist organization Jaish al-Adl. Earlier this week, Iran bombarded targets in Syria and Iraq.

As per Pakistani officials, three children were hurt and two children died.

The attack was considered “illegal” by Islamabad, which also threatened “serious consequences”.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, said in a Davos speech that only Jaish al-Adl members had been targeted, not one Pakistani citizens.

The latest airstrike coincides with rising tensions in the Middle East as Israel and the Palestinian organization Hamas are engaged in a battle in Gaza.

Tehran says it has no desire to become embroiled in a larger battle. But in an effort have shown their support for the Palestinians, factions within the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” which also includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi militants in Yemen, and other groups in Syria and Iraq, have taken to attacking Israel and its allies. Following their assault on commercial vessels, the Houthis have been targeted by airstrikes from the US and UK.

China called for “restraint” and “avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension” from Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday. Spokesperson for the foreign ministry Mao Ning maintained that Beijing considered the nations to be “close neighbours.”

Iran appears determined to avenge those it thinks to be responsible for the recent deadly strikes on its territory, possibly motivated by resentment.

Iran is eager to project power and show its own people that acts of violence would not go unpunished during a period of increased regional tensions.

A community in the sizable border province of Balochistan in Pakistan’s southwest was affected by an attack on Tuesday. Tehran announced that it was going after Jaish al-Adl, also known as the “army of justice,” an ethnic Baloch Sunni Muslim organisation that has attacked both Pakistani government forces and Iranian citizens.

Jaish al-Adl attacked a police station in Rask, a town near the Pakistani border, in December of this year.

Two weeks ago, at a ceremony in Kerman honouring the US death of Iran’s infamous Revolutionary Guard general, Qasem Soleimani, two bombs killed eighty-four people, making it the largest domestic attack Iran has suffered since the Islamic Revolution.
Iran deployed ballistic missiles at northern Iraq under Kurdish authority and Syria on Monday. Iran declared that it was going after the Islamic State and the Israeli intellect organization Mossad, both of which it claimed were complicit in the Kerman attacks.

A building in the northern town of Irbil was hit by the strike on Iraq. Six civilians were injured and four victims died in the attack, according to local authorities. The US criticized the assault.

Iran then launched an attack on the Idlib region in northwest Syria, which is home to 2.9 million displaced people and is the sole opposition stronghold left in the nation.
But striking Pakistan, its nuclear-armed neighbour to the east, would be an important move up. The attack occurred “despite the existence of several channels of communication” between the countries, noted Pakistan, which voiced outrage over the incident.

Islamabad stated on Wednesday that it had summoned its Iranian envoy and that the ambassador would not be permitted to return to Iran at this time.

Iran and Pakistan maintain a warm but cautious relationship. This strike occurred on the same day that the foreign ministers of Iran and Pakistan met in Davos and that the fleets of Iran and Pakistan performed joint military exercises in the Gulf.

However, for years, both have accused one another for offering support to terrorist groups who attack the other in their respective border regions.

The security on both sides of their roughly 900 km (559 mi) a common border has long been a source of concern for both governments.

While Baloch separatist groups are still waging an insurgent struggle against the Pakistani government, the Sunni Muslim Baloch minority in Iran is complaining of being treated differently in the Shia Muslim-majority state.

Based in Sistan-Baluchestan, Jaish al-Adl is the “most active and influential” Sunni militant the organization, according to the US Director of National Intelligence’s office. Both Washington and Tehran have labelled it as a terrorist organisation.
It “would take time to calm down but this is also something that Pakistan would not like to escalate,” Aamir Rana, another Pakistani security analyst, told the BBC.

“But now the ball is in Iran’s court, whether it wants to get its act right,” he said, regarding Pakistan’s past lack of response to Iran’s actions.

by,HHM