The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) has issued a report detailing its assessment of the recently-concluded general election, expressing deep concerns over a decline in fairness scores compared to previous election cycles.
Pakistan on Thursday morning struck terrorist hideouts in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, less than 48 hours after Iran violated its airspace.
According to a statement issued by the military’s media affairs wing, “hideouts used by terrorist organizations namely Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF)” were struck in an intelligence-based operation codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’.
Meanwhile, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported that nine people were killed in the attack targeting a village in the city of Saravan, with Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi saying all the dead “were foreign nationals”.
Iran on Tuesday had launched attacks in Pakistan targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl in the border town of Panjgur in Balochistan, Iranian state media reported, prompting strong condemnation from Islamabad and downgrading of diplomatic ties.
The Iranian strikes were part of a series of attacks carried out by Iran in recent days in Syria and Iraq as a response to recent terrorist attacks on its territory.
They have heightened concerns about regional stability, particularly amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
In its statement, issued hours after the Foreign Office (FO) announced that Pakistan had carried out “precision military strikes” in Iran, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said “effective strikes” were carried out against hideouts inside Iran used by terrorists responsible for recent attacks in Pakistan.
“The precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions, and stand-off weapons. Maximum care was taken to avoid collateral damage,” it said.
The ISPR said hideouts used by BLA and BLF were successfully struck in the operation.
“The targeted hideouts were being used by notorious terrorists including Dosta alias Chairman, Bajjar alias Soghat, Sahil alias Shafaq, Asghar alias Basham and Wazir alias Wazi, amongst others,” it said.
The ISPR added that “dialogue and cooperation” were deemed prudent in resolving bilateral issues between the two brotherly countries.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the air attacks in Pakistan that killed two children this week targeted an “Iranian terrorist group”.
“On Pakistan, none of the nationals of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones,” Abdollahian said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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