Pakistan says two children killed in Iranian missile strike, recalls ambassador

Officials in Pakistan say two children were killed and three women injured in a missile strike from neighbouring Iran on Tuesday. Iran's foreign minister said the "missile and drone" strikes hit militants in Pakistan in a district near its border with Iran.

Pakistan has recalled its ambassador from Iran to protest the "blatant breach" of its sovereignty.

State media in Iran said its missiles struck two bases of Sunni Muslim group Jaish al-Adl — a militant group that seeks an independent Baluchistan for ethnic Baluch areas in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Jaish al-Adl has, in the past, mounted attacks on Iranian security forces in the border area with Pakistan.

Only militants were hit, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, alleging those attacked were linked to Israel.

A Pakistani intelligence report said the two children killed were a six-year-old girl and an 11-month-old boy. Three women were injured, aged between 28 and 35, it said. The report also said three or four drones were launched from the Iranian side, hitting a mosque and other buildings, including a house.

The violation was unprovoked and unacceptable, said Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch. Pakistan reserved "the right to respond to this illegal act," a message it had conveyed to the Iranian government, she said.

Souring relations

The strikes were launched a day after similar attacks were carried out by Tehran inside other neighbours, Iraq and Syria. Baghdad recalled its ambassador from Tehran after Iran's state-backed media said it had hit an Israeli espionage centre.

Pakistan would not allow Iran's ambassador, currently visiting his home country, to return, Baloch said.

A joint border trade committee meeting had been cancelled, and a Pakistani trade delegation had been recalled from Chabahar in Iran, said government official Aurangzeb Badini.

"Further escalation is possible, though Islamabad has strong incentives to be cautious," said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center's South Asia Institute, adding that Beijing might also step in to help mediate.

"China has close ties to both Iran and Pakistan, and it has a strong interest in the crisis not spiraling out of control … it will likely quietly press the two sides to step back from the brink," he said.

Hopes for 'stronger security cooperation'

Officials in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, which borders Iran, said that four missiles had hit the Panjgur district close to the border. Videos shared by the Baluch activist group HalVash, purportedly from the site, showed a burning building and two charred, small corpses.

"Four missiles were fired in the village of Koh-i-Sabaz which is around 50 kilometres inside Pakistan soil," a senior official of the Panjgur administration told Reuters.

"A mosque and three houses were damaged in the attack," another official said, adding that two young girls were killed and three other people injured.

Jaish al-Adl has claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent years on Iranian security forces in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

Iran's Amirabdollahian had a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani, according to an Iranian foreign ministry statement, and stressed Tehran's respect for Pakistan's sovereignty.

"Iran's security has been repeatedly targeted by Jaish al-Adl terrorist group from Pakistani soil and we are hopeful that stronger security cooperation between the two countries continue," Amirabdollahian said.