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Pakistan early on Thursday conducted “effective strikes” in Iran against hideouts of terrorists responsible for recent attacks, with “maximum care” taken to avoid collateral damage, the Inter-Services Public Relations has (ISPR) announced.
In a statement issued after the Foreign Office confirmed Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar earlier in the day, the military’s media wing said the precision strikes inside Iran were carried out using “killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons.” It said the operation had successfully targeted hideouts used by the terrorist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) organizations, adding the dens were in use of various notorious terrorists, including Dosta alias Chairman, Bajjar alias Soghat, Sahil alias Shafaq, Asghar alias Basham and Wazir alias Wazi, amongst others.
“The Pakistan Armed Forces remain in a perpetual state of readiness to ensure safety of Pakistan citizens against acts of terrorism,” it said, stressing the forces’ resolve to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan was respected and safeguarded against any misadventure was unwavering. “We reaffirm our determination to defeat all enemies of Pakistan with the support of the people of Pakistan,” it added.
In future, the ISPR statement advised, it was “prudent” to adopt dialogue and cooperation in resolving all bilateral issues between the two neighboring brotherly countries.
On Wednesday morning, Iran violated Pakistani airspace, claiming it had targeted militants of the Jaish al-Adl group inside Balochistan province’s Pangjur town. However, Islamabad said the airstrike had struck a mosque, killing two children and injuring three girls, triggering an outpouring of anger. Following the strike, Pakistan expelled Iran’s ambassador and recalled its own envoy from Tehran. It also warned Tehran that it reserved the right to respond to this “illegal act.”
On Thursday morning, Pakistan fulfilled the threat, targeting hideouts of terrorists in three different locations of Iran, with the Foreign Office stressing the action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities. It noted Pakistan had also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists with Iran, regretting that a lack of action on these serious concerns had seen the ‘Sarmachars’ continue to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity.
“Iran is a brotherly country and the people of Pakistan have great respect and affection for the Iranian people. We have always emphasized dialogue and cooperation in confronting common challenges including the menace of terrorism and will continue to endeavor to find joint solutions,” it added.