Iran launches strikes into Pakistan amid rising tensions in Middle East

Iran launches strikes into Pakistan amid rising tensions in Middle East
by Darryl Coote
Washington DC (UPI) Jan 16, 2024

Iran on Tuesday launched airstrikes targeting a Sunni militant group in Pakistan, attracting a strong rebuke from its neighbor, which said two children were killed in the attack.

Tehran struck two bases of the Jaysh al-Dhulm militant group in Pakistan's mountainous southwestern Balochistan region, semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.

Pakistan condemned the attack as an "unprovoked violation of its airspace" in a sharply worded statement from its foreign ministry that listed the casualties as two dead children and three injured girls.

It called the violation "completely unacceptable" while threatening that there will be "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 ministry said.

"Pakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action. Such unilateral acts are not in conformity with good neighborly relations and can seriously undermine bilateral trust and confidence."

Pakistan has lodged a protest with the Iranian foreign ministry and has summoned Tehran's charge d'affaires, it said.

The attack comes as tensions in the Middle East have exponentially skyrocketed since the war in Israel began Oct. 7.

Iran has been involved in its conflict through its proxies Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, but it has recently begun directly attacking its neighbors, framing them as retaliation against terrorists who have conducted recent attacks within its borders.

Less than a day before Iran attacked Pakistan, its elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, targeting alleged Israeli spy headquarters in the former and "anti-Iran terrorist groups" in the latter.

Iran has accused Israel of being behind last month's airstrike in Damascus that killed Sardar Seyed Razi Mousavi, an adviser to the IRGC in Syria. Some 100 people were also killed earlier this month in a Islamist State-claimed attack on the city of Kerman.

Iran's strike on Pakistan comes after 11 Iranian police officers were killed mid-December in Jaysh al-Dhulm, also known as Jaish Al-Adl.

Iraq has condemned the attack within its borders, which it said killed at least four civilians, and on Tuesday summoned Iran's ambassador "for the purpose of consultation against the background of the recent Iranian attacks on Erbil," its foreign ministry said.

Baghdad also filed a complaint with the U.N. Security on Tuesday about the missiles strikes, saying in a statement that the attack is "a flagrant violation of Iraq's sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the Iraqi people."

Erbil, the capital of the Iraq's Kurdistan Region, rejected Iran's notion that it was home to terrorists.

Kyrgyzstan army helicopter crash kills one, injures seven
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (AFP) Jan 17, 2024 - Kyrgyzstan said Wednesday one person died and seven were injured in an army helicopter crash in the Central Asian country's capital Bishkek.

"At 10:55 local time (0455 gmt) at the airbase Frunze-1 a military Mi-8 helicopter crashed," the country's aviation agency Kyrgyzaeronavigatsiya said in a statement. "One person died and seven were wounded."

Local media said information on the crew was being clarified.

The mountain country's main city hosts an airbase.

The Mi-8 is a Soviet-made military helicopter.