It all started on Tuesday when Iran launched used missiles and drones to strike targets in Pakistan. Per the AP, Iran claims it was "targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl" in retaliation for "a dual suicide bombing this month claimed by the Sunni militant group Islamic State that killed over 90 people." "Pakistan said the strikes killed two children and wounded three others in an assault it described as an 'unprovoked violation' of its airspace," according to the article. It also explains:
Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice,” is a Sunni militant group founded in 2012 which largely operates across the border in Pakistan. The militants have claimed bombings and kidnapped Iranian border police in the past.
Iran has fought in border areas against the militants, but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan is unprecedented for Iran. Iranian reports described the strikes as happening in the mountains of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province.
It was not the only strikes carried out by Iran. The BBC reports that "[o]n Monday, Iran fired ballistic missiles at Syria and Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Iran said it was targeting Islamic State and Israel's Mossad spy agency, both of whom it said had been involved in the Kerman bombings."
But, back to Pakistan, CNN adds that "Pakistan on Wednesday recalled its ambassador from Iran and suspended all Iraninan high-level visits."
“Last night’s unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty by Iran is a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” Mumtaz Baloch, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, said in a televised address.
She said the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan should not return from a current visit to Iran and warned “Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this illegal act.”
And, CNN continues, "China urged Iran and Pakistan to exercise restraint in handling their ongoing conflict after the deadly strike."
Pakistan ignored China, however, and today the AP reports that "Pakistani retaliatory strikes in Iran kill at least 9, raising tensions along border." Per the article, "Pakistan's military also said the strikes hit targets associated with the Baluchistan Liberation Front", "an ethnic separatist group that has operated in the region since 2000." The article further explains:
Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, as well as Iran’s neighboring Sistan and Baluchestan province, have already faced a low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for more than two decades.
However, the groups targeted this week are different. Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni separatist group that Iran targeted Tuesday, grew out of another Islamic extremist group known as Jundallah that was once alleged to have ties to al-Qaida. Jaish al-Adl has long been suspected of operating out of Pakistan and launching attacks on Iranian security forces.
The Baluch Liberation Army, which has no religious component and has launched attacks against Pakistani security forces and Chinese interests, is suspected of hiding out in Iran. The Baluchistan Liberation Front is similarly nationalistic.
The risk of escalation remained Thursday as Iran’s military begins a planned annual air defense drill from its port of Chabahar near Pakistan all across the south of the country to Iraq. The drill will include live fire from aircraft, drones and air defense systems.
Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometer (560-mile), largely lawless border in which smugglers and militants freely cross. The route is also key to global opium shipments coming out of Afghanistan. The Taliban separately urged restraint amid the tensions.
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