Iran on militants killed in Pakistan’s retaliatory airstrikes

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that it is false since Iran’s government has not confirmed that any terrorists were killed in Pakistan’s retaliatory airstrikes on January 18, 2024.

To arrive at this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team analysed the relevant press and news releases issued by the Iranian state on Jan 18.

HOW IT STARTED

Caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai on the morning of Jan 19 said that Iran and Baloch activist Dr Mahrang Baloch had confirmed the deaths of terrorists in retaliatory airstrikes by Pakistan after Tehran violated the country’s airspace.

Addressing a press conference in Quetta, Achakzai said at the 2:32 minute mark in the linked video: “Iran has also confirmed the killing of terrorists in retaliatory airstrikes by Pakistan. Mahrang has also confirmed this.”
 

METHODOLOGY

 
The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claim made by the Balochistan information minister since Iran and Pakistan are currently embroiled in a diplomatic crisis which has seen strikes by both countries in the other’s territory.

The team also saw fit to investigate the minister’s claim regarding the activist due to the ongoing protest in Islamabad for Baloch rights which Dr Mahrang is leading.

The iVerify Pakistan team sought to corroborate what the minister said regarding Iran and consulted official press and news releases by the Iranian state on Pakistan’s strikes.
 
Iran’s foreign ministry issued a Jan 18 press release on the incident titled: “The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the recent incidents on the Pakistan border.”

Analysing the content, the statement said: “Iran condemns Pakistan’s unbalanced and unacceptable drone attack on non-Iranian villagers on the border of the two countries.”

Furthermore, iVerify Pakistan also found a report published on Jan 18 at 11:48am by Iranian state news agency IRNA titled: “Number of the killed after Pakistan attack rises to 9.”

As per the report, Ali Reza Marhamati, the deputy governor general of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, “had confirmed the killing of three women and four children during the missile attack who were all non-Iranians”.

A later Jan 18 report at 4:38pm by IRNA was titled: “Pakistan used 3 drones in Iran border attack: Local official”

It quoted Marhamati as saying that “around 10 women and children were killed” in the incident, adding that the official stressed that the “casualties were Pakistani nationals and that an investigation is underway to determine how they had come to reside on the Iranian side of the border”.

An analysis of the above statements from Iran’s foreign ministry and state news agency shows that none of them used “terrorist” or “militant” to describe those killed in Pakistan’s strikes, nor did they even comment on or confirm any terrorists killed.
 
Next, the iVerify Pakistan team sought to verify the second part of Achakzai’s claim regarding Dr Mahrang’s supposed confirmation of terrorists being killed.

Since the minister did not mention or identify when or where this alleged confirmation of Dr Mahrang was from, the iVerify Pakistan team investigated where and when she had addressed the issue of the Pakistani strikes and those killed in them.

The search yielded only one press conference from Islamabad on Jan 18 in which Dr Mahrang, currently leading a sit-in against Baloch missing persons, addressed the issue.

The following is a transcript with timestamps from the relevant portions of the press conference where she addressed the issue of the strikes and those killed:

13:44: “On both sides, Baloch are dying. On both sides, innocent Baloch women and children are prime targets of the state. If you know there are terrorists here and there then catch them; why do you attack women and children.”

16:52: “Do you all realise that the relatives of those killed in Iran are present here in this sit-in. They are also crying that their children were killed but who will answer for this?”

The team concluded that the Balochistan information minister’s reference in his claim about Dr Mahrang was likely about her remark at the 16:52-minute mark where in she said that the Islamabad protest included relatives of those killed in Iran.

Furthermore, this remark of the activist in particular was trending on social media platforms since Jan 18 with the trend: “Sarmachar traitors of Balochistan”

As per a Jan 19 Dawn report, “Sarmachar” in Balochi means fighter or guerilla and is used by armed groups operating in the cross-border region.

Posts circulated in the trend grabbed on to Dr Mahrang’s confirmation of the relatives of those killed in Iran being present in the Islamabad protest as taken to mean that the relatives were of terrorists and militants.

IRANIAN STRIKE ON PAKISTAN TERRITORY

According to a Dawn.com report, Iran launched attacks in Pakistan on Jan 16 targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl in the border town of Panjgur in Balochistan.
 
The incident prompted strong condemnation from Islamabad, a downgrade of diplomatic ties, and subsequent counter-strikes by Pakistan in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office and the military’s media wing had said that the strikes were against terrorist organisations, namely the Balochistan Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front.
 
The Iranian strikes were part of a series of attacks carried out by Iran in recent days in Syria and Iraq as a response to recent terrorist attacks on its territory.

CONCLUSION

 
The iVerify team has determined that the claim made by the Balochistan information minister is false as neither the Iranian state nor Dr Mahrang confirmed that any terrorists were killed in Pakistan’s strikes.

The wording of Iran’s official statements on the issue did not refer to or imply that those killed were terrorists and did not even remark on or confirm any deaths of terrorists.

Similarly, the language used by Dr Mahrang in her press conference also evidently demonstrates that she did not refer to or confirm those killed in Iran as being terrorists.

She maintained that those killed were “women and children”. She called on the two states to take action against any terrorists instead of confirming the deaths as militants.

Evidence and References

January 19, 2024, press conference of caretaker Balochistan information minister:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6xowi4HysY

Jan 18 Statement from Iran’s foreign ministry on Pakistan’s strikes:
https://en.mfa.gov.ir/portal/newsview/738537

Jan 18 reports by Iran’s state news agency IRNA on Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes:
https://en.irna.ir/news/85358414/Pakistan-used-3-drones-in-Iran-border-attack-Local-official
https://en.irna.ir/news/85358119/Number-of-the-killed-after-Pakistan-attack-rises-to-9

Dr Mahrang Baloch Jan 18 press conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T6MOx2V-Lk