Iran summons Pakistan's top diplomat ::: Iran Pakistan Attack: Nine people, including six children, reportedly killed in airstrikes

Pakistan-Iran War 

Iran summons Pakistan's top diplomat as tensions escalate after retaliatory strike

"Following the early morning attack by Pakistan on a border village in Sistan Baluchistan province, an hour ago the Pakistani charge d'affaires in Tehran was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for an explanation," local media quoted the Iranian spokesperson as saying.

Pakistan has retaliated. Iran said it targeted camps run by "terrorist group" Jaish al-Adl in Baloch area and Islamabad said it had attacked Pakistani-origin terror groups in Baluchistan province along the shared border between the nations.

(Militants from Baloch Liberation Army and United Baloch Army, sit before hand over their weapons to Chieftain of Marri tribe and Pakistan's provincial minister Nawab Changaiz Marri during a surrender ceremony in Quetta in October 2015. AFP/File snap/India Today) 

At least 11 people have been killed after Iran and Pakistan traded airstrikes this week, signalling a worrying escalation of tension and armed conflict in a Middle East already wracked by violence and bloodshed, after Israel's war on Gaza and attacks by Tehran-backed Houthi militia - who claim to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinians besieged by Tel Aviv - on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

Nine deaths, including those of four children, were reported from Iran Thursday and two, both children, from Pakistan the day before, after each nation said it had struck "terror groups".  

The Balochistan Liberation Army, a separatist group active in the region since 2000, said in a statement that the Pakistani strikes in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province targeted and killed its people.  

“Pakistan will have to pay a price for it,” the group warned. 

What Have The US, China, And India Said?

The US' State Department has criticised Iran for violating the sovereign borders of three nations in 48 hours. Washington is currently leading strikes against Houthi militants in the Red Sea region, who are widely seen as backed by Tehran and who have been designated "global terrorists" by the US.

"I think it is a little rich... on one hand Iran (is) the leading funder of terrorism in the region, and, on the other hand, (it claims) it needs to take these actions to counter terrorism," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.  

India underlined its "zero tolerance" stance towards terrorism, but has also said it understands "actions that countries take in their self-defence".

"This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan. Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncompromising zero tolerance towards terrorism. We understand actions that countries take in their self-defence," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to media queries. 

China has taken a more neutral position. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters, "We call on the two sides to avoid actions that escalate tension, and jointly keep the region peaceful." Beijing in a difficult position at this junction, given its close ties to Pakistan and the fact it imports a significant amount of oil from Iran. 

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province by area, rich in natural gas and minerals, and provides access to the Indian Ocean and the strategic Strait of Hormuz. It is central to China's Belt and Road initiative through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).  

Baluchistan is a restive region shared by Iran and Pakistan where security forces on both sides of the border have for years battled militant groups but which now risks being the subject of escalating tensions between the neighbours.

Russian foreign ministry said: "We are watching with concern the escalation of the situation in the Iran-Pakistan border area that has been growing in recent days. We call on the parties to exercise maximum restraint and to resolve emerging issues exclusively through political and diplomatic means".  

The European Union on Thursday said it was deeply worried about the "spiral of violence in the Middle East and beyond" after Pakistan and Iran struck each other's territory. "These attacks, including in Pakistan in Iraq and Iran now are of utmost concern for the European Union because they violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, and they have also a destabilising effect on the region," EU spokesman Peter Stano said.