Eight Pakistanis killed in southeastern Iran

ISLAMABAD: Eight Pakistanis were killed in southeastern Iran, according to a statement from the Pakistani government on Sunday.

The people, who have yet to be identified, were killed in the Mehrestan County of Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan.

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The Pakistani Embassy in Tehran and Consulate in Zahidan are working with authorities in Iran to investigate the killings and repatriate the victims’ remains, the statement said

It added that further details on the identification of the deceased and the circumstances surrounding their deaths will be shared once available.

Last year Tehran said it struck militants from the Jaish al Adl (JAA) group in Pakistan, while Islamabad said it hit bases of the separatist Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in Iran.

The militant groups operate in an area that includes Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan and Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province. Both regions are restive, mineral-rich and largely underdeveloped.

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Last year’s tit-for-tat strikes by the two countries are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years.