Iranian Missile Strikes in Pakistan: A Violent Escalation

The Unprovoked Attack

Iranian missile strikes aimed at Sunni militants in neighboring Pakistan killed two children on Tuesday, Pakistani authorities said, as they condemned the 'unprovoked violation of its airspace' and warned of retaliation.

Using what it described as 'precision missile and drone strikes,' Iran said it had destroyed two strongholds of the Jaish al-Adl militant group, known in Iran as Jaish al-Dhulm, in the Kouh-Sabz (green mountain) area of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, according to Iran's state-aligned Tasnim news agency.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the attack killed 'two innocent children while injuring three girls,' and warned Iran of 'serious consequences.' It strongly condemned the attack as an 'unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and the strike inside Pakistani territory.'

The attack comes after Iran launched missiles in northern Iraq and Syria Monday, in the latest escalation of hostilities that further risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict. 'It is even more concerning that this illegal act has taken place despite the existence of several channels of communication between Pakistan and Iran,' the ministry said.

Consequences and Retaliation

Following the strike, nuclear-armed Pakistan lodged a 'strong protest' with a senior official in Iran's Foreign Ministry in the Iranian capital Tehran and called on the Iranian charge d'affaires, saying the 'responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran.'

The Jaish al-Adl militant group late Tuesday said Iran's Revolutionary Guards had used six attack drones and a number of rockets to destroy two houses where the children and wives of the Jaish al-Adl fighters lived. In a statement on Telegram, the militants said two small children were killed in the attack, while two women and a teenage girl were seriously injured.

Last month, the Jaish al-Adl group was accused of storming a police station in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which resulted in the deaths of 11 Iranian police officers, according to Tasnim.

The strikes came as Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday launched ballistic missiles, targeting what it claims was a spy base for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad in Erbil, northern Iraq, and at 'anti-Iran terror groups' in Syria.

International Response and Concerns

Irans attacks will further raise fears that Israel's war in Gaza could widen into a full-scale war in the Middle East with grave humanitarian, political, and economic consequences.

Those attacks were condemned by the United States as 'reckless' and imprecise, and the United Nations said 'security concerns must be addressed through dialogue, not strikes.'

Iraq said it submitted a complaint to the UN Security Council and the UN on Tuesday. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said there are no Mossad-affiliated centers operating in Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

This image taken from video provided by Rudaw TV shows smoke rising from a building hit by a strike in Erbil, Iraq, Tuesday, January 16, 2024.