Pakistan said Thursday it had conducted overnight strikes on insurgent groups in Iran.It comes two days after Tehran attacked, "terrorist targets" inside the South Asian country.
"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran," a Foreign Ministry statement said, adding that a "number of terrorists were killed."
The statement added, "Pakistan fully respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran.""The sole objective of today's act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised."
What has Iran said about the strikes?
Iran's official IRNA news agency reported explosions in the country's restive southeastern region.
"Several explosions have been heard in several areas around the city of Saravan," IRNA said, quoting an official in Sistan-Baluchistan province where the city is situated.
Iranian media reported that at least three women and four children were killed in one of the explosions, adding that they were all non-Iranians.
The country's Mehr news agency said that several people were wounded.Tehran has asked Islamabad for an explanation about the strikes, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.
What happened in the Iranian strikes on targets in Pakistan?
On Tuesday, Iran said that it struck bases belonging to Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant group in Pakistan.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said that two children were killed in the incident and condemned the strikes as an "unprovoked violation" of its airspace.
On Wednesday, Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Iran and blocked Tehran's envoy from returning to Islamabad following the strikes from Iran.
The tit-for-tat attacks by Sunni-majority Pakistan and Shiite-dominated Iran have heightened tensions with regional powers China and Russia, urging both sides to exercise restraint and not to let the conflict escalate further.
Iran had recently launched similar attacks on Syria and Iraq.
On Wednesday, the United States denounced the Iranian strikes in Pakistan, Iraq and Syria, which Tehran has claimed were carried out against "anti-Iranian terrorist groups."
"So we do condemn those strikes. We've seen Iran violate the sovereign borders of three of its neighbors in just the past couple of days," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told the media.(AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)
