Pakistan bombs Baloch insurgency in Iran, killing 7

Pakistan attacked several targets allegedly linked to the Baloch insurgency in Iranian territory during the early hours of Thursday, two days after Tehran launched missiles and drones against bases of a Baloch Islamist organization in Pakistani territory, an action that Islamabad had called “unacceptable.” ”.

The Pakistani foreign ministry said “precision military strikes” were launched against “terrorist hideouts” in Iran's Sistan and Balochistan province and, as a result, “a number of terrorists” were killed. Speaking to Iranian state television, the deputy director of provincial security of this province bordering Pakistan explained that three women and four children of “non-Iranian” nationality have died.

Just as Tehran had done after its attack on Pakistan, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stressed that Iran is “a brother country,” but criticized the presence of Baloch insurgents in “ungoverned spaces within Iran.” “In recent years, in our discussions with Iran, Pakistan has shared its concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by these terrorists of Pakistani origin who call themselves 'Sarmachars'. […] However, due to lack of action, these so-called 'Sarmachars' continue to shed the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity,” the Pakistani statement said.

After the Iranian attack on Tuesday, Islamabad recalled its ambassador in Tehran for consultations. Iran and Pakistan have maintained good relations for most of history and, in fact, just this week, the Naval Forces of both countries carried out joint military exercises. Also, in the past, they have carried out coordinated operations against the Baloch insurgency, a stateless people of 15 million inhabitants who speak a language of the Iranian family and are divided between western Pakistan, southeastern Iran and southern of Afghanistan: in all three there are regions that bear the name of Balochistan. The territory in which they live is, for the most part, arid and mountainous, but it is home to great mineral wealth.

A Pakistani intelligence source told the agency Reuters that the attacks were carried out through aerial bombardments, and several Iranian media have confirmed that Pakistani fighters entered Iranian airspace. The Pakistani Armed Forces reported that Thursday's attacks targeted seven targets in three locations in Iran (Sarawan, Sham-e-Sar and Hanag) where there was supposedly a presence of the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF). in English) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), both groups – which demand the independence of their region – are considered terrorists by Islamabad, and the second is, in addition, included in the lists of terrorist organizations of the US, the Union European and Chinese. Both groups have committed attacks and attacks against Pakistani security forces and civilians.

Since the beginning of the 2000s, the Baloch insurgency in Iran has also intensified, but while the groups operating in Pakistan are secular in ideas, and even Marxist in the case of the BLF, the groups active in Iran, such as Jaish al Adl (the organization attacked in Pakistan), are of Salafist ideology and highlight their affiliation to Sunnism as opposed to the majority and official Shiism of Iran. For this reason, in addition to the Iranian security forces, another of the targets of their attacks have been Shiite pilgrims. Tehran has carried out operations against these groups in its border provinces, but considers that their main ones are in Pakistan, where they would receive help from other Islamist organizations. In fact, as Jaish al Adl himself acknowledged in a statement, the facilities hit by Iranian missiles on Thursday were homes where the wives and children of the group's fighters reside.

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