Pakistan’s military said it carried out a series of “highly co-ordinated” military strikes on militant groups in Iran on Thursday.
“A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Iranian media reported several explosions and said three women and four children, all of whom were foreign nationals, were killed in one blast during Thursday’s attack.
Tehran claimed that several missiles struck a border village in the Sistan-Baluchistan province.
It comes after Iran carried out strikes against “terrorist targets” late on Tuesday in Pakistan – an attack that Islamabad said killed two children.
The missile and drone attack targeted the Jaish al-Adl group in Pakistan, Iran’s government said.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Wednesday denounced the “unprovoked and blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty” before recalling its ambassador from Iran and blocking Tehran’s envoy – currently in Iran – from returning to the country.
Tehran’s attack on Tuesday was the third direct strike on foreign territory it has carried out in recent days, one of which was used to demonstrate new long-range missiles capable of hitting Israel.
Tensions in the region are growing following the activities of Iran and its proxies: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Tehran and Islamabad frequently accuse each other of allowing militants to operate from the other’s territory to launch attacks, but it is rare that official forces on either side engage.
