The cross-border strikes between Pakistan and Iran targeting Pakistani organizations and Iranian rebels constitute a violent escalation of tensions between the two neighboring countries.

Both Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have faced stand-offs along their 1,000-kilometer-long border for decades.

Tehran announced last night, Tuesday, that it had hit the “terrorist organization” Jaish al-Adl (“Army of Justice” in Arabic) on Pakistani territory. Calling the attack “totally unacceptable”, Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Tehran and barred the Iranian ambassador, who is currently in his home country, from returning to Islamabad.

In response to the Iranian strike, Pakistan today targeted Baloch Pakistani separatists in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province.

The Iranian attack killed two children, according to Islamabad. At least nine people, including four children and three women, were killed by the Pakistani strikes, Iranian media reported.

The two countries accuse each other of not being worthy of controlling the armed organizations operating on their territory.

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The attacks come at a time when the Middle East has been rocked by back-to-back crises since Israel declared war on the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip in response to the deadly offensive on Israeli soil on October 7.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, while Israel’s military has been exchanging fire daily with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group on the border with Lebanon.

Iran also launched missile strikes on Tuesday against so-called “spies” and “terrorists” in Syria and the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Pakistan is also facing increased attacks on its border with Afghanistan, while its relations with the Kabul Taliban have deteriorated.

With information from: APA MPA

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