Pakistani strikes target 'terror' hideouts in Iran

China offers to mediate as Teheran and Islamabad say they respect sovereignty

ISLAMABAD/TEHERAN — Pakistan carried out strikes against "terrorist" hideouts in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province on Thursday morning, two days after Teheran said it had attacked the bases of another group within Pakistani territory.

The strikes killed nine people in the border region in Iran's southeast, state media reported, updating an earlier toll of seven, Reuters reported citing Iranian media.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Thursday said the country "undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran".