Roving Periscope: Iranian army kills wanted terrorist—inside Pakistan, again
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A month after it conducted a military operation in Baluchistan against Sunni terrorists hiding there, the Iranian military conducted another operation in Pakistani territory and killed Ismael Shahbakhsh, the terror group commander of Jaish al-Adl, and some other terrorists, the media reported.
Pakistan is yet to respond to this latest Iranian step.
The development came while Islamabad is yet to have a government after the February 8 elections, and a month after both Iran and Pakistan conducted airstrikes inside each other’s territory.
“Iran’s military forces have, in an armed clash inside the Pakistani territory, killed senior Jaish al-Adl militant group commander Ismail Shahbakhsh and some of his companions,” Iran’s state-run media reported on Saturday.
Jaish al-Adl (the Army of Justice), a Sunni extremist organization, that is designated a terrorist organization by Iran, operates predominantly in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, according to Al Arabiya News.
Tension between the two nations had escalated after which both of them had recalled the ambassadors. After diplomatic efforts, both countries restored bilateral ties and agreed to reinstate the ambassadors.
Pakistan’s concerns are that Baloch terrorist outfits find refuge across the border in the Sistan-Balochistan province of Iran while Tehran claims anti-Iran militant groups such as Jaish al-Adl have hideouts in Baluchistan province in Pakistan.
Formed in 2012, Jaish al-Adl is a Sunni terrorist group that operates in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan. It has launched numerous attacks on Iranian security forces.
In December 2023, Jaish al-Adl took responsibility for an attack on a police station in Sistan-Balochistan that claimed the lives of at least 11 police personnel.
Tensions between the two nations escalated after Tehran and Islamabad carried out missile strikes against each other targeting ‘terror units’.
Iran carried out missile and drone strikes in Pakistan on the late night of January 16, to destroy two “important headquarters” of Jaish al-Adl.
Islamabad alleged that the strikes killed two children and injured three girls. and Pakistan withdrew its ambassador from Iran on January 17. It announced that it would not allow the Iranian envoy, visiting his home country at that time, to return to protest a “blatant breach” of its sovereignty.
The next day, on January 18, Pakistan launched strikes inside Iran in a retaliatory attack. Islamabad said it targeted the hideouts used by ‘terrorist militant organizations,’ namely the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
However, later, both countries agreed on the return of ambassadors of both countries to their respective posts and also decided to mutually work for ‘de-escalation’ of tensions, Geo News reported.
