Pakistan fires back at targets in Iran as regional tensions boil

Diplomacy in crisis after Iranian airstrikes send Islamabad 'message' on militants

20240118 Iranian Missile attacks Pakistan

Pakistani security officials conduct roadside checks in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, on Jan. 17, after Iranian airstrikes against alleged militant bases in the province. © EPA/Jiji

ZIA UR REHMAN, Contributing writer, and TALA TASLIMI, Nikkei staff writer

January 18, 2024 13:56 JST

KARACHI/TEHRAN -- Pakistan on Thursday announced that it carried out strikes inside Iranian territory, as the neighbors waded deeper into a diplomatic crisis over militants within their borders.

"This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts" in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, Islamabad's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation."