2024 Iran–Pakistan border skirmishes

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2024 Iran–Pakistan border skirmishes
Part of the Insurgency in Balochistan
Iran Pakistan Locator.svg
Location of Iran (green) and Pakistan (orange)
Date 16 January18 January 2024
(2 days)
Location
Balochistan (Iran and Pakistan)
Result

Status quo ante bellum

Belligerents
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
Claimed by Pakistan:
Balochistan Flag.png Balochistan Liberation Army
Balochistan Flag.png Balochistan Liberation Front
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
Claimed by Iran:
Flag of Jaish al-Adl.svg Jaish ul-Adl
Commanders and leaders
Flag of Iran.svg Ali Khamenei
(Supreme Leader of Iran)
Flag of Iran.svg Ebrahim Raisi
(President of Iran)
Flag of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.svg Hossein Salami
(C-i-C of the IRGC)
Balochistan Flag.png Bashir Zeb
Balochistan Flag.png Allah Nazar Baloch
Flag of Pakistan.svg Arif Alvi
(President of Pakistan)
Flag of Pakistan.svg Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar (Prime Minister of Pakistan)
Air Force Ensign of Pakistan.svg Zaheer Ahmad Babar (Chief of the Air Staff)
Flag of Jaish al-Adl.svg Salahuddin Farooqui
Units involved
Flag of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.svg Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air Force Ensign of Pakistan.svg Pakistan Air Force
Casualties and losses
9 foreign nationals killed in Iran (18 January) [2] [3]
2 killed and 4 wounded in Pakistan (16 January) [4]

On 16 January 2024, Iran conducted a series of missile strikes in Pakistan, asserting that it had targeted militants of the Baloch separatist group Jaish ul-Adl in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. This attack occurred one day after a similar series of Iranian missile strikes in Iraq and Syria, which the Iranian government had stated were in response to the Kerman bombings by the Islamic State on 3 January. Pakistan's government condemned the strikes as an "unprovoked violation" of Pakistani airspace and stated that two children had been killed.

Contents

Two days later, on 18 January, Pakistan conducted a retaliatory series of missile strikes in Iran, asserting that it had targeted militants of the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Balochistan Liberation Front in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan. Iran's government condemned the strikes and stated that nine people had been killed, including four children. Pakistani airstrikes marked the first known instance of foreign country launching attacks on Iranian soil since the end of Iran-Iraq war 1988. [5]

Communicating through diplomatic channels on 19 January, both countries agreed to de-escalate and cooperate along the Iran–Pakistan border. Pakistan recalled the Iranian ambassador to Islamabad and reinstated the Pakistani ambassador in Tehran.

Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited Pakistan on 29 January 2024 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani in a push to diffuse the standoff.

Background

Iran–Pakistan border

The Iran–Pakistan border, spanning across Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan and Pakistan's Balochistan, faces significant challenges due to its high porosity, making it susceptible to extensive smuggling and terrorist activities, primarily orchestrated by Baloch insurgents. [6] Despite maintaining a generally positive relationship, both countries have consistently accused each other of harboring terrorists and falling short in ensuring security on their respective sides of the border. These concerns prompted the establishment of the Iran–Pakistan border barrier, with construction commencing on the Iranian fortifications in 2011 and on the Pakistani fortifications in 2019. [7] [8] [9]

Iranian missile strikes in Iraq and Syria

On 15 January 2024, Iran launched a barrage of 15 missiles directed at Iraq and Syria. Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, suffered most from the assault, with all but four missiles hitting the city. The remaining four struck Syria's Idlib Governorate, specifically targeting areas under the control of the Syrian opposition.

The Iranian government asserted that it aimed to strike Israel in Iraq by destroying the regional headquarters of Mossad. However, both the Iraqi government and the autonomous Kurdish government refuted this claim and condemned the attack. The Iranian missile attack occurred almost two weeks after the Kerman bombings, for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility.

Iranian missile strikes in Pakistan

After conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran targeted Koh-e-Sabz, a locality in the Panjgur District of Pakistan's Balochistan province, which resulted in the death of two Pakistani children. Pakistan swiftly denounced the attack, taking diplomatic measures by expelling the Iranian ambassador from Islamabad, recalling its own ambassador from Tehran, and issuing a stern warning to Iran regarding potential retaliatory actions.

Iran justified its actions by claiming that it had aimed at Jaish ul-Adl, a Baloch insurgent group involved in the Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency. This group had previously claimed responsibility for the 2019 Khash–Zahedan suicide bombing that targeted the IRGC.

Pakistani strikes in Iran

On 18 January, In a tit for tat move, Pakistan launched a retaliatory strike, codenamed Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar, carried out by the Pakistan Air Force against seven targets of the Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front terrorists in the Saravan city of Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran. [10] [11] Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi claimed nine foreign nationals were killed, including three women, four children and two men. [12] Such Pakistani strikes were the first known instances of attacks on Iranian soil since the end of the Iran-Iraq War. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sistan and Baluchestan province</span> Province in southeastern Iran

Sistan and Baluchestan Province is the second largest of the 31 Provinces of Iran, after Kerman Province, with an area of 180,726 km2. Its capital is the city of Zahedan. The province is in the southeast of the country, bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Balochistan</span> Insurgency in Pakistan and Iran

The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency or revolt by Baloch separatist insurgents and various Islamist militant groups against the governments of Pakistan and Iran in the Balochistan region, which covers the Pakistani province of Balochistan, Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and Balochistan of southern Afghanistan. Rich in natural resources, this is the largest, least populated and least developed province in Pakistan and Iran, and armed groups demand greater control of the province's natural resources and political autonomy. Baloch separatists have attacked civilians from other ethnicities throughout the province. In the 2010s, attacks against the Shia community by sectarian groups—though not always directly related to the political struggle—have risen, contributing to tensions in Balochistan. In Pakistan, the ethnic separatist insurgency is low-scale but ongoing mainly in southern Balochistan, as well as sectarian and religiously motivated militancy concentrated mainly in northern and central Balochistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balochistan Liberation Army</span> Baloch militant group based in Afghanistan

The Balochistan Liberation Army, is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant separatist organization based in Afghanistan. BLA's first recorded activity was during the summer of 2000, after it claimed credit for a series of bombing attacks on Pakistani authorities. BLA is listed as a terrorist organization by Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balochistan</span> Region of southwestern Asia

Balochistan, also spelled Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of desert and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic Baloch people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saravan, Iran</span> City in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran

Saravan is a city in the Central District of Saravan County, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city lies in a long valley in the south of Masheked and north of Makran, close to the international border with Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baluch Liberation Front</span> Militant group operating in the Balochistan region of southwestern Asia

The Balochistan Liberation Front is a militant group operating in the Balochistan region of southwestern Asia. The group was founded by Jumma Khan in 1964 in Damascus, and played an important role in the 1968–1973 insurgency in Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran and 1973–1977 insurgency in Balochistan province of Pakistan. However, the group's insurgency was defeated in both Pakistan and Iran and the status of the group became unknown until 2004. The group re-emerged in 2004 after Allah Nazar Baloch took command of the group in 2003. Since then the group has taken responsibility for attacks on civilians, journalists, government officials and military personnel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaish ul-Adl</span> Militant separatist organization in Iran

Jaish ul-Adl, or Jaish al-Adl, is a Baloch Sunni Salafi Jihadist separatist organization that operates mainly in the Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran, where there is a substantial Baloch population and a porous border with Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency</span> Separatist insurgency in Iran

The Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency is an ongoing low-intensity asymmetric conflict in Sistan and Baluchestan Province between Iran and several Baloch Sunni militant organizations designated as terrorist organizations by the Iranian government. It began in 2004 and is part of the wider Balochistan conflict.

The Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war refers to the Iranian–Israeli standoff in and around Syria during the Syrian conflict. With increasing Iranian involvement in Syria from 2011 onwards, the conflict shifted from a proxy war into a direct confrontation by early 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">February 2021 United States airstrike in Syria</span> Bombing by the United States against militia groups in Syria

On February 25, 2021, the United States military carried out an airstrike on a site which it believed to have been occupied by Iranian-backed Iraqi militias operating from across the border in eastern Syria. The unilateral operation was in retaliation for multiple rocket attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq ten days prior and was the first known offensive military operation carried out under U.S. president Joe Biden.

The 2021 Sistan and Baluchestan protests were a series of protests in the Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran. The protests started on 23 February 2021 after multiple Baloch fuel traders were killed at the Iran–Pakistan border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2021 United States airstrike in Syria</span> Bombing by the United States against militia groups in Syria

On 28 June 2021, President Biden directed airstrikes against Iran-backed militia groups close to the Syria-Iraq border. F-15E and F-16 aircraft were used to launch the attack in what the U.S. described as a retaliatory attack against U.S. facilities and personnel in Iraq by militia groups. Two operational and weapons storage facilities were targeted in Syria, the U.S. military revealed in a statement. Despite the U.S. not disclosing the information regarding the casualties in the attack, the SOHR stated that at least nine Iran-backed Iraqi militia fighters died, leaving many others injured. Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran in a statement named four members of the Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction they said were killed in the attack on the Syria-Iraq border.

Events in the year 2023 in Iran.

Events in the year 2024 in Iran.

Events in the year 2024 in Syria

On 15 January 2024, Iran carried out a series of aerial and drone strikes within Iraq and Syria, claiming that it had targeted the regional headquarters of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and several strongholds of terrorist groups in response to the Kerman bombings on 3 January, for which the Islamic State took responsibility. The city of Erbil, which is the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region, was the target of 11 of the 15 total missiles that were fired. The remaining four missiles were directed at Syria's Idlib Governorate, targeting areas held by the Syrian opposition. In Erbil itself, the Iranian attack killed four civilians and injured 17 others. Iran's claims of having targeted the Israeli presence in Kurdistan and terrorist groups in Syria were rejected by the Iraqi government and the autonomous Kurdish government, both of which condemned the attack.

On 16 January 2024, Iran carried out a series of missile and drone strikes within Pakistan's Balochistan province, claiming that it had targeted the Iranian Baloch militant group Jaish ul-Adl. The incident occurred one day after Iran carried out a similar series of aerial and drone strikes within Iraq and Syria, claiming that it had targeted the regional headquarters of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and several strongholds of terrorist groups in response to the Kerman bombings on 3 January, for which the Islamic State took responsibility. The Pakistani government condemned the attack, stating that Iran had killed two children and calling it an "unprovoked violation" of Pakistan's airspace.

On 18 January 2024, Pakistan launched a series of air and artillery strikes inside Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province, targeting Baloch separatist groups, codenamed Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar by Pakistan. The attack was launched in response to the Iranian missile strikes in Pakistan's Balochistan province, one day earlier.

On 2 February 2024, the United States Air Force launched a series of airstrikes targeting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran-backed militia groups located in Iraq and Syria. The attack was launched in retaliation against a drone strike carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeting US troops in Jordan the week before, which killed three U.S. troops.

In the southeastern border province of Sistan and Balochistan, an attack on an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) headquarters happened on the night of 4 April 2024. At least 16 Iranian security force members were killed in this attack. The clashes occurred in the towns of Chabahar, Rask and Sarbaz. Jaish ul-Adl, a Sunni armed group, was involved in the attack and lost at least 16 members during the clashes. This incident is one of the deadliest attacks carried out by Jaish ul-Adl. The region has a predominantly Sunni Muslim population and has witnessed frequent clashes between Iranian security forces and militants. The attack took place following an Israeli missile strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria that killed Quds Force Brigadier-General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy, General Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi.

References

  1. "De-escalation imminent as friends engage in hectic diplomacy". 19 January 2024.
  2. Mao, Frances; Davies, Caroline; Adams, Paul (18 January 2024). "Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes into Iran, killing nine people". BBC News . Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  3. "Pakistan Unleashes Retaliatory Strikes in Iran, Killing Nine". The Daily Beast. 18 January 2024. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024. The Baluch Liberation Army, an ethnic separatist group, said the strikes had killed its members. "Pakistan will have to pay a price for it," the organization said
  4. "Pakistan recalls its ambassador to Iran over airstrikes by Tehran that killed 2 people". AP News. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  5. Cordall, Simon Speakman. "'Credibility at stake': Why did Iran strike inside Pakistan amid Gaza war?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  6. "Iran To Seal Off Porous Borders With Afghanistan, Pakistan To Beef Up Security". Iran Front Page. 5 January 2024. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  7. "Iran constructing fence on Pakistan border". The Express Tribune. 16 April 2011. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022.
  8. Qureshi, Zubair (23 February 2019). "Pakistan to fence 950km of border with Iran". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  9. Baabar, Mariana (19 July 2019). "Pakistan, Iran agree on border fencing". www.thenews.com.pk. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024.
  10. "Pakistan launches retaliatory air strikes inside Iran as tensions rise". TRT World. 18 January 2024. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024.
  11. "Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar". Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Government of Pakistan. 18 January 2024. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  12. Siddiqui, Usaid. "Pakistan-Iran attacks updates: 9 killed near Iran's southeast border". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  13. Cordall, Simon Speakman. "'Credibility at stake': Why did Iran strike inside Pakistan amid Gaza war?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 April 2024.