Pakistan recalls envoy as Iranian missiles strike terror camps

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, January 17

Pakistan recalled its envoy from Tehran and suspended all high-level planned bilateral visits after Iranian ballistic missiles and drones struck two bases of terrorist group Jaish al-Adl in Balochistan on Tuesday night.

• Editorial: Iranian strikes

It asked the Iranian envoy not to return from Tehran where he had gone for consultations. Islamabad also summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires and issued a strongly worded condemnation of Iran’s “violation of its airspace”.

Jaish al-Adl on target

• Jaish al-Adl (army of justice) is a Sunni militant group founded in 2012 and quartered in Pak
• Iran repeatedly warned the group after it attacked Iranian forces in Sistan-Baluchestan near Chabahar
• India is developing a port at Chabahar and an all-weather link by rail and road is planned to Afghanistan and Central Asia.”

The strikes inside Pakistan came a day after two dozen Iranian missiles and drones struck alleged Mossad and ISIS regional headquarters in Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria. Iraq has also recalled its envoy from Tehran after it said a Mossad headquarters next to the US consulate in Erbil had been obliterated and a billionaire who supplied oil from Kurdistan killed. The attacks took place a day after Iranian and Pakistani navies held joint exercises in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. As a result, warships of both countries are in the area even as their Foreign Ministers spoke on Wednesday in an attempt to dial down the tensions.

The Iranians launched the missiles on Pakistan after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had left Tehran. “Two key strongholds of the Jaish al-Adl terrorist group in Pakistan have been obliterated through precision missile and drone strikes,’’ said Iranian news reports late on Tuesday night.

Tehran identified the impact points as a region known as Kouh-Sabz (Green Mountain) in Balochistan, which was “one of the largest hubs for the Jaish al-Adl militants” In its latest attack on Iranian security forces, the group had gunned down 11 policemen in Sistan and Balochistan.

“East and West are no different for us. We will respond to any threats to Iran from anywhere. Our response will always be proportional, tough and decisive,” said Iranian Defence Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani.

The Pakistan Foreign Office did not provide the exact location of the strike but said the attack was unacceptable and Islamabad “reserves the right to respond to this illegal act”. Local officials were quoted by the media as saying that four missiles were fired in the village of Koh-i-Sabaz, which is around 50 km inside Pakistan. He claimed that a mosque and three houses were damaged and two young girls were killed. The Foreign Office did not mention the death of the girls.

Reacting to the missile attack, India has said Iran's airstrikes in Pakistan were a matter between the two countries. “Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism. We understand actions that countries take in their self-defence,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

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