By Afshain Afzal

In the latest development, Pakistan attacked Baloch nationals, targeting suspected members of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) on 18 January 2024. Iranian Deputy Governor of Sistan Balochistan province, Ali Reza Marhamati, gave the casualty figures; three women, four children and two men near the town of Saravan along the Pak-Iran border. He said the dead were not Iranian citizens. Earlier on 17 January 2024, Iran carried out a combination of missile and drone attacks 34 kilometers inside Pakistan without intimation and dubbed that they attacked Sistan Balochistan inside Pakistan. Pakistan strongly condemned the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran and the strike inside Pakistani territory, which resulted in the death of two innocent children while injuring three girls. Islamabad, in its official statement, said, “This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences.” Tehran claimed, “Two key strongholds of the Jaysh al-Dhulm (Jaish al-Adl) terrorist group in Pakistan were “specifically targeted and successfully demolished the houses”. Later, with a gap of two days, name of Pakistan was added out of context with some evil plan in mind. Interestingly, Washington declassified some documents, while leaking others documents regarding Balochistan to create further chaos.

Strange statements emerged from both the Iranian and Pakistani sides, which are beyond comprehension. Even though Pakistan’s sovereignty has been seriously breached, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement, that Pakistan has decided to recall its Ambassador from Iran and that the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan who is currently visiting Iran may not return for the time being," but exactly opposite of what earlier said she also humbly submitted, “We will continue to engage with our neighbor Iran to ensure that peace prevails and that the two countries make concerted and coordinated efforts to combat the threat of terrorism.” Earlier, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued separate a press release, “Pakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action. Such unilateral acts are not in conformity with good neighbourly relations and can seriously undermine bilateral trust and confidence.”

The story is unusual and seems mutual consultation as everything has missing links and lacks authenticity.   The target or enemy for both Pakistan and Iran are the same i.e. “the Baluch groups”. Interestingly, the official statement clarifies Pakistan's position and agenda, “Pakistan has always said terrorism is a common threat to all countries in the region that requires coordinated action. Such unilateral acts are not in conformity with good neighbourly relations and can seriously undermine bilateral trust and confidence.” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has claimed, “Iranian nationals has taken refuge in the Pakistani Province of Siestan Balochistan” and Iranian

The social media and analysts cannot deny that the initial news on 15 January 2024, explosions killed four people and briefly suspended air traffic at Erbil International Airport. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed the attacks that it targeted an Israeli Mossad espionage center with ballistic missiles, destroying it. The attack was of such a minor nature that all air traffic resumed at Erbil International Airport early 16 January. The attack on Syria was also of a minor nature-targeting container of an anti-Iranian group. Two days later on 17 January, first the Western and Indian media and then the Iranians claimed they attacked the target in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. One wonders about the joint operation code name, “Operation “Marg Bar Sarmachar”, which was coined by the combination of a Persian word, “Marg bar” which means down with or death and Hindi word spoken in India “Sarmachar” which means winter season. However, local Baluch language, “Sarmachar” means “guerrilla” and the operation may mean “Death to Guerrilla”. To conclude, with exchange of sweet words in official statements between Iranian and Pakistani officials despite violating national integrity and sovereignty of each other is a serious threat to the rules of war and peace. This means that onwards both nations can directly target their adversaries and enemies in each other countries, with smiles on their faces calling each other brothers.