Pakistan yesterday launched deadly strikes against militant targets in Iran in apparent retaliation for Iranian air raids on its territory, further stoking tensions and prompting Tehran to summon Pakistan’s envoy.
Nine people, including three women and four children, were killed in the Pakistani strikes in restive Sistan-Baluchistan Province, Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency said.
It came just two days after Iran conducted strikes against what it described as “terrorist” targets in Pakistan, killing at least two children. While Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan often accuse each other of allowing militants to operate from the other’s territory to launch attacks, it is rare that official forces on either side engage.
The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs described yesterday raids as a “series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts” in Sistan-Baluchistan.
Drones and rockets were used in the strikes, which targeted Baluch separatist movements, the army said. The Pakistani military has been waging a decades-long fight against the separatist groups in its sparsely populated border region.
Iran condemned the strikes, and summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires “to protest and request an explanation from the Pakistani government,” Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanani said.
Iran’s Fars News Agency said those killed were believed to be Pakistani nationals, without citing its sources.
Pakistan said the strikes were launched in light of “credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities,” adding that “a number of terrorists were killed.”
Islamabad affirmed that it “fully respects” Iran’s sovereignty, and said the strikes’ “sole objective” was to ensure “Pakistan’s own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised.”
Iranian media said that the strikes hit a village near the city of Saravan. Previously, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had said his country’s strikes in Pakistan were in response to the Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) jihadist group’s recent deadly attacks on the Islamic republic.
Pakistan denounced Iran’s strike near their shared border, recalled its ambassador from Iran and blocked Tehran’s envoy from returning to Islamabad
With tensions mounting, China offered to mediate between Pakistan and Iran — both close partners of Beijing — and urged both sides to “exercise calm and restraint.”
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
MARITIME SECURITY: Of the 52 vessels, 15 were rated a ‘threat’ for various reasons, including the amount of time they spent loitering near subsea cables, the CGA said Taiwan has identified 52 “suspicious” Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience that require close monitoring if detected near the nation, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday, as the nation seeks to protect its subsea telecoms cables. The stricter regime comes after a Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly detained by the CGA earlier this month on suspicion of damaging an international cable northeast of Taiwan. The vessel is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company with a Chinese address given for its only listed director, the CGA said previously. Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt
RSS