On Thursday (18th January), Pakistan launched “precision military strikes” against what it claimed “terrorist hideouts” of armed rebel groups such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province leaving seven people dead. Now, the Balochistan Liberation Army, which has been active in the region since 2000, has released a statement where it has sworn to avenge the attack launched by Pakistan, reports India Today.
“Pakistan will have to pay a price for it,” the group warned.
“Now the Baloch Liberation Army will not remain silent. We will avenge it and we announce war on the state of Pakistan,” the ethnic group was further quoted as saying by India Today.
Meanwhile, a statement claimed to be issued by the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) is also doing rounds on social media. X user @RealBababanaras posted the BLF statement and said that the rebel group has refuted Pakistan’s claims and said that they do not have any hideouts in Iran.
Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) in a statement has rejected #Pakistan's claims and stated that the BLF has no bases in #Iran
— Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) January 18, 2024
“Fake news on circulating on social media.” Says spokesperson https://t.co/N8tD3JqKEA pic.twitter.com/oWQr2sjUFc
Aljazeera also quoted the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) as saying that it “has no hideouts in Iran” and none of “our Saramchar [fighters] was martyred in the recent attacks by Pakistan”.
This comes after the Pakistan army today (Thursday, January 18) released operational details of its strikes and said it carried out precision strikes in Iran using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons that struck ‘terrorist’ groups Balochistan Liberation Army and the Balochistan Liberation Front
On January 18, Pakistan launched “precision military strikes” against what it claimed “terrorist hideouts” in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province leaving four children and three women dead in its “intelligence-based operation” named “Marg Bar Sarmachar”. Subsequently, Iran summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires to protest against the missile attack.
Pakistan’s ‘precision strike’ came after on 16th January, Iran attacked the headquarters of a terrorist group with drones and missiles inside Pakistan’s territorial borders. Two important headquarters of Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) in Pakistan were destroyed. The strikes were concentrated in an area in Pakistan’s Balochistan region where “one of the largest headquarters” of Jaish al-Adl was located. Following the air strike by Iran, Pakistan expelled the Tehran envoy and recalled its ambassador.
