The bodies of nine Pakistani nationals killed in an attack in Iran the previous week were airlifted today, as per the media reports. On January 27, unidentified assailants opened indiscriminate fire near the Pakistan-Iran border in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, resulting in the tragic killing of nine Pakistani workers and injuring three others.
"The mortal remains of nine Pakistani nationals, who were killed in a terrorist attack in Sistan Baluchistan province of Iran on January 27, 2024, have been airlifted. All the bodies were brought to Quetta from Iran yesterday but yet to be flown to Multan but would be done soon," a senior official was quoted as saying by Dawn News.
The victims belonged to the Punjab province of Pakistan and had been living in Iran as workers. According to officials, there was confusion among the relatives of the deceased at the Multan airport as the flight carrying the bodies did not arrive at its scheduled time since it could not take off from Quetta due to poor weather conditions.
Last week, soon after the gruesome killing, Pakistan condemned the incident while demanding the Iranian government to take action against the perpetrators.
Tensions escalated between Islamabad and Tehran after Pakistan on January 18 conducted "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province that killed 9 people.
The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks on two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan's unruly Balochistan province.
Amid tensions, Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Tehran and blocked Iran’s envoy from returning to Islamabad. Tehran also summoned Islamabad’s charge d’affaires over Pakistan’s strikes.
The two countries, however, announced later that they had decided to de-escalate. It was also agreed that the ambassadors of the two countries would return to their posts in Islamabad and Tehran.
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