Pakistan says Iran violated airspace, killing two children

Pakistan said neighbouring Iran has violated its airspace resulting in the death of two children, hours after Iranian state media said missiles targeted two bases of militant group Jaish al Adl on Tuesday.

Islamabad warned that the incident could have “serious consequences” and was “completely unacceptable” in a statement released by Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson in the early hours of Wednesday. Reuters reported

Iran’s foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.

On Monday, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with missiles.

Jaish al Adl has previously mounted attacks on Iranian security forces in the border area with Pakistan.

“These bases were hit and destroyed by missiles and drones,” Iranian state media reported earlier, without elaborating.

Iran’s Nournews, affiliated with the country’s top security body, said the attacked bases were in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency and state television had said that missiles and drones were used in the strikes in Pakistan. Press TV, the English-language arm of Iranian state television, attributed the attack to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, AP reported on January 17

Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice,” is a Sunni militant group founded in 2012 that largely operates across the border in Pakistan. The militants have claimed bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past.

Iran has fought in border areas against the militants, but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan is unprecedented for Iran. Iranian reports described the strikes as happening in the mountains of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded rebuke of the strikes.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran which resulted in the death of two innocent children while injuring three girls,” the statement read. “This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences.”