Pakistan has launched missile strikes into Iran, reportedly killing nine civilians, after Iran carried out strikes in Pakistan late on Tuesday.
Pakistan said its strikes had hit “terrorist hideouts” in Iran’s south-eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, where a Sunni separatist group operates.
Three women, two men and four children were killed, Iran state TV said, calling the attack a “flagrant violation of international law”.
The reciprocal air strikes come as tensions in the Middle East are high with several overlapping crises.
Israel is fighting the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza and exchanging fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria are targeting US forces, and the US and UK have struck the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who have been attacking shipping.
“A Dangerous Game of Tit-for-Tat”
Pakistan and Iran have long accused each other of harbouring militant groups that carry out attacks from regions along their shared border.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry confirmed its strikes, which Iranian media said took place around the city of Saravan.
Pakistan said it had acted in light of “credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities” and said a number of “terrorists” were killed.
It added that it “fully respects” Iran’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” but its action on Thursday was “a manifestation of Pakistan’s unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats”.
Pakistan had fiercely condemned Iran’s strike on Tuesday, which struck an area of Pakistan’s Balochistan province near the Iranian border and which Islamabad said killed two children.
Iran insisted its strikes were aimed only at Jaish al-Adl, an ethnic Baloch Sunni Muslim group that has carried out attacks inside Iran, and not Pakistan’s citizens.
