By Usaid Siddiqui

     Pakistan’s air force has launched retaliatory air strikes on Iran, allegedly targeting fighters’ positions.

      Iranian state media says the attack killed at least nine people.

      Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry described their attack as “a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes”.

      The strikes in Sistan-Baluchestan province follow Iran’s attack on Tuesday on Pakistani soil that killed two children in the southwestern Balochistan province.

   Pakistan-based BLF says no fighters killed in attack

    The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), an armed group operating in Pakistan, says it “has no hideouts in Iran” and none of “our Saramchar [fighters] was martyred in the recent attacks by Pakistan”.

    As we reported earlier, the Pakistan army said “hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front were successfully struck” on Thursday morning.

    The BLF has conducted frequent attacks on Pakistani forces as well as on projects operating under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

   Pakistani attack targeted ‘hideouts used by terrorist organisations’

    The Pakistani military says the strikes carried out in Iran on Thursday morning targeted “hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front”.

    The targets “were successfully struck in an intelligence based operation”, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, said in a statement a short while ago.

    The statement added that “killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons” were used to conduct the operation.

    “Going forward, dialogue and cooperation is deemed prudent in resolving bilateral issues between the two neighbouring brotherly countries,” the statement read.

   Reaction: Who has said what?

    Iran – Prior to Pakistan’s missile strike, Iran’s foreign minister said the country’s forces targeted the Jaish al-Adl group, describing it as a “terrorist” organisation. The attack was in response to the group’s recent attacks on the Iranian city of Rask in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

    Pakistan – The Foreign Ministry said Iran’s attack was “unacceptable” and a breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty, and that it reserved the right to respond. After Pakistan’s retaliation earlier today, the ministry said the attacks were based on an “intelligence-based operation” against hideouts of armed groups in the Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran.

    China – Mao Ning, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said both Iran and Pakistan should “avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension”.

    United States – The US State Department condemned the Iranian missile strikes in Pakistan, as well as those in Iraq and Syria, saying Tehran had violated the “sovereign borders of three of its neighbours”.