Iran claims to have launched a missile attack on a militant organization in western Pakistan, marking the third airstrike on a different nation this week following strikes on targets in Syria and Iraq.
Iranian state TV said the operation hit two sites in Balochistan linked to the militant group Jaish al-Adl.
Pakistani officials said two children were killed and three others injured.
Islamabad said the air strike was an “illegal act” and warned it could lead to “serious consequences”.
The latest air strike come at a time of growing tension across the Middle East, with more than 100 days of war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza and recent US-UK air strikes on Yemen, from where Iran-backed Houthi militants have been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
China called for “restraint” and “avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension” from Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday. Spokesman for the foreign ministry Mao Ning continued, saying Beijing considered the nations to be “close neighbors.”
A community in the sizable border province of Balochistan in Pakistan’s southwest was affected by the attack on Tuesday. Tehran declared that it was going after Jaish al-Adl, also known as the “army of justice,” an ethnic Baloch Sunni Muslim organization that has attacked both Pakistani government forces and Iranian citizens.
