Eight Pakistanis have been killed in a gun attack in southeastern Iran. The incident was confirmed in a statement released by the Pakistani government on Sunday, April 13. British news agency Reuters reported the incident.
According to the statement, Pakistan’s embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Zahedan are working with Iranian authorities to investigate the killings and to repatriate the bodies.
The attack occurred in Mehrestan County, located in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, near the Pakistan border. As of this report, the identities of the deceased have not been confirmed.
The statement added that the cause of the killings and the identities of the victims will be disclosed once the investigation is complete. Armed groups often operate across the border areas of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province and Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province. Both regions are politically unstable, underdeveloped, but rich in mineral resources.
Last year, tensions escalated when Iran claimed to have attacked the base of the armed group Jaish al-Adl (JAA) in Pakistan. In response, Islamabad stated that it launched a counterattack on separatist groups—the Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation Army—within Iranian territory.
These cross-border strikes were among the most notable recent incidents between the two countries.