Iran says it has launched attacks on what it calls militant bases in Pakistan

JERSUALEM (AP) — Iran launched attacks Tuesday in Pakistan targeting what it described as bases for the militant group Jaish al-Adl, state media reported. Those reports were then suddenly removed without explanation.

The state-run IRNA news agency and state television had said that missiles and drones were used in the attack, which was not immediately acknowledged by Pakistan.

Jaish al-Adl is a Sunni militant group which largely operates across the border in nuclear-armed Pakistan.

The reports of strikes came at a time of heightened tensions in the region and fears of a wider spillover of the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Late Monday, Iran fired missiles into Iraq at what it called an Israeli “spy headquarters” near the U.S. Consulate compound in the city of Irbil, the seat of Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and at targets linked to the extremist Islamic State group in northern Syria.

Iraq on Tuesday called the attacks, which killed several civilians, a “blatant violation” of Iraq’s sovereignty and recalled its ambassador from Tehran.