Explained: Which weapons were used, how exactly did Pakistan carry out airstrikes in Iran?

Islamabad, Pakistan

Pakistan on Thursday (Jan 18) launched airstrikes in Iran against alleged militant hideouts, killing at least nine people. In the retaliatory action called operation "Marg Bar Sarmachar" several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders Pakistan, said Iranian state media.

The attack comes after Iran on Tuesday violated Pakistan's airspace and carried out strikes against "terrorist" targets in Pakistan which left at least two children dead. Iran said that the Jaish al-Adl group, which is an Iranian terrorist group, was targeted.

Jaish al-Adl was formed in 2012. It is blacklisted by Iran as a terrorist group and has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years. 

Pakistan denounced the strikes, calling it "illegal" and recalled its ambassador from Iran. Islamabad also blocked Tehran's envoy from returning to the South Asian nation.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan foreign ministry after the airstrikes on Thursday (Jan 18) said that "a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes" on targets that were reportedly over 80 kilometres inside Iranian territory. 

Also read: Why did Iran attack Pakistan? What is Jaish al-Adl group targeted by Tehran? 

In a statement, it added: "This morning's action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities. This action is a manifestation of Pakistan's unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security against all threats." 

Pakistan's military said that the main objective of the act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own "security and national interest". 

Tehran strongly condemned the strikes. It summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires, its most senior diplomat in Iran and asked for an explanation.

"The information received indicates that four children, three women and two men, who were foreign nationals, have been killed in the explosion that occurred in a village," Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV.

How exactly did the Pakistan army carry out airstrikes? 

A Pakistani military statement said: "The precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons" and the targets were bases used by the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the associated Baloch Liberation Army. 

Pakistan claims that the BLF has been waging an armed insurgency against the Pakistani state, including attacks against Chinese citizens and investments in Balochistan. 

-Killer drones are small, palm-sized autonomous drones which use facial recognition and shaped explosives that can be programmed to seek out and eliminate known targets. 

-Expert-based reports have noted that loitering munitions are typically smaller in size compared to traditional UAVs, which enables them to navigate through complex terrain and confined spaces easily. The munition can be optimised in terms of characteristics, such as keeping the life of the engine short, silence in the strike phase, speed of strike dive, and more. 

-Standoff weapons are missiles fired from aircraft at a distance — likely meaning Pakistan’s fighter jets didn’t enter Iranian airspace. 

A report by the EurAsian Times stated that Iran used Chinese-built fighter jets JF-17 'Thunder' and J-10C 'Vigorous Dragon'. Pakistan also deployed the Chinese Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Wing Loong II in its operation. 

The report added that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) fighters engaged the targets inside Iran with precision-guided air-to-ground munitions. 

Pakistan said that seven locations were targeted after aerial reconnaissance carried out by UAVs confirmed the "presence of high-value terrorist targets". The primary precision-guided munition (PGM) used in airstrikes was the GIDS B-REK (Boosted Range Extension Kit), which is a rocket-boosted glide bomb and a precision-guided weapon with a range of 170 kilometres. 

Also read: Pakistan-Iran strikes: China ready to play 'constructive role' in de-escalating conflict 

The security threat in Iran 

The recent strikes were an escalation of tensions that have been long-simmering on both sides of the border but have rarely flared. 

There have been attacks inside Iran in recent months by the Sunni militant separatist group Jaish al-Adl, which is blacklisted by Iran — also by its arch-foe the United States — as a terrorist organisation. In an attack claimed by the group in the town of Rask in December, 11 policemen were killed. 

Jaish al-Adl was formed in the early years of the last decade following the breakup of a similar group, Jundallah, which had previously carried out assaults against Iranian security forces but was weakened after the capture and subsequent execution of its leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, in 2010. 

Watch: Pakistan: Geo-Economic targets, neighbours and the region

Iranian media reported that he was arrested in extraordinary circumstances in February 2010 when Iranian fighter jets forced a passenger plane he was travelling on to Kyrgyzstan to land in Iran. He was hanged in June of that year. 

The recent escalation could get out of hand as several analysts have warned that Pakistan's reaction and official comments after its retaliatory strikes suggest that the nation wants to keep the row contained. 

Asfandyar Mir, who is a senior expert on South Asia security at the US Institute of Peace, told the news agency Reuters: "Iran's motivation for attacking Pakistan remains opaque but in light of broader Iranian behaviour in the region it can escalate." 

"What will cause anxiety in Tehran is that Pakistan has crossed a line by hitting inside Iranian territory, a threshold that even the U.S. and Israel have been careful to not breach," Mir added. 

(With inputs from agencies)