New Delhi: Iran’s attack on a couple of terrorist bases in Pakistan earlier this week and the latter’s retaliatory attacks against its western neighbour on Thursday have sparked speculations whether the Israel-Hamas war in West Asia is spreading to South Asia. But experts don’t believe so.
On Tuesday, Iran carried out a missile and drone attack in western Pakistan targeting two bases of Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant and Baluchi separatist organisation, which Tehran lists as a terrorist group. Islamabad said two children were killed and three other people were injured in the attack.
Following the attack, India reacted late on Wednesday night saying that saying that it understood why countries take action in self-defence. “This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. “Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism. We understand actions that countries take in their self-defence.”
The statement came after Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh pulled up Pakistan for raking up the Kashmir issue in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Ministerial Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, earlier on Wednesday.
“While our focus is on coming together to strengthen NAM collectively, we have been exposed to the unfortunate, misplaced, predictable and blatant misuse of this august platform by Pakistan, as it propagates false and malicious propaganda against my country,” Singh said. “Any interference in India's internal affairs is totally unacceptable and we completely reject it.”
Following Tuesday’s cross-border strikes by Iran, Pakistan said that these were illegal and warned of serious questions. Islamabad also called back its ambassador to Iran and stopped Tehran’s ambassador to Pakistan who had gone to his home country from returning.
And then, on Thursday morning, Pakistan launched several missile attacks targeting a border village near the city of Saravan in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province. Tehran said nine people were killed all of whom were foreign nationals.
After the attacks, the Pakistan Foreign Office said that a series of “highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes” were carried out against terrorist hideouts in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province.
“Over the last several years, in our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani origin terrorists calling themselves Sarmachars (fighters) on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran. Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence and activities of these terrorists,” it said in a statement.
“However, because of lack of action on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. This morning’s action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities by these so-called Sarmachars.
“This action is a manifestation of Pakistan’s unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats. The successful execution of this highly complex operation is also a testimony to the professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces. “Pakistan will continue to take all necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred,” the Pakistan Foreign Office said.
Tuesday’s attacks in western Pakistan had come after Iran carried out airstrikes on targets in Iraq and Syria on Monday which Tehran described as Israeli “spy spots”. Iran said these strikes were in retaliation for two attacks over the last few weeks. One killed 94 people attending a memorial for a general in the city of Kerman in Iran and the other killed an Iranian commander in Syria. The responsibility for the attack in Kerman was claimed by the Sunni terrorist group Islamic State.
These attacks came amidst the raging Israel-Hamas war in the Palestinian territory of Gaza on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. To show solidarity with the Palestinians, the Iran-aligned Houthi militants are attacking ships passing through the Red Sea, a crucial global shipping route.
That is why the Iran-Pakistan cross-border attacks have raised speculations about whether this is a sign of the Israel-Hamas further expanding. However, according to Abhinav Pandya, founder, director and CEO of the Uasanas Foundation think tank, this is not an expansion of the Israel-Hamas war. “These attacks will only worsen relations between Pakistan and Iran,” Pandya told ETV Bharat. “At worst, the US might take the help of Pakistan to corner Iran.”
It may be mentioned that the US is leading a multination coalition in running Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea to counter the attacks from the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen. Pandya said that Shia-majority Iran has problems with two sets of groups – Baluchi groups seeking an independent Balochistan in Baluch-dominated areas in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Sunni terrorist groups operating from Pakistan.
The Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), the bases of which were attacked by Iran on Tuesday, is a Sunni militant group that has been listed as a terrorist group by Tehran. It has been launching attacks against Iranian border guards since 2013. In December last year, the Jaish al-Adl had claimed responsibility for an attack on a police station in the town of Rask in Sistan-Baluchistan that had claimed the lives of 11 Iranian security personnel.
But, according to a source with expertise on West Asian issues who spoke to EGV Bharat on condition of anonymity, though Jaish al-Adl and the Islamic State are Sunni groups, they are not connected to each other. Meanwhile, the Sarmachars whom Pakistan claimed to have targeted in Thursday’s attacks are Baluchis seeking an independent Balochistan. The Pakistani military said that the strikes carried out in Iran targeted hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front.
However, the Balochistan Liberation Front has said that it has no hideouts in Iran and none of its Saramchars was killed in Thursday’s attacks by Pakistan. The source cited above also concurred with Pandya and said that the Iran-Pakistan cross-border attacks are not a sign of escalation of the Israel-Hamas war but rather a continuation of border tensions between the two Asian nations.
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