Pakistan

Pakistan condemns deadly Iranian missile strike on its territory as an ‘unprovoked violation’

Author: Jonny Hallam, Asim Khan and Helen Regan, Source: CNN:::

January 17, 2024 at 06:57

Pakistans Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani attends an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting regarding the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip in Jeddah on October 18 2023. © Amer Hilabi AFP

Authorities in Balochistan province told CNN two girls had died and at least four people were injured.

CNN — Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned an Iranian airstrike inside its borders that killed two children, calling it an “unprovoked violation of its airspace” and warning of retaliation.

Iran said it used “precision missile and drone strikes,” to destroy two strongholds of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, known in Iran as Jaish al-Dhulm, in the Koh-e-Sabz area of Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan province, according to Iran’s state-aligned Tasnim news agency.

The attack comes after Iran launched missiles in northern Iraq and Syria Monday, in the latest escalation of hostilities in the Middle East where Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the attack on its territory killed “two innocent children” and warned Iran of “serious consequences.”

It described the airstrike as an “unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran … inside Pakistani territory.”

“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 ministry said.

Following the strike, nuclear-armed Pakistan lodged a “strong protest” with a senior official in Iran’s Foreign Ministry in the Iranian capital Tehran and called on the Iranian charge d’affairs, saying the “responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran.”

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