Iran’s Tasnim News Agency said on Thursday that Pakistani airstrikes on a residential area in Balochistan’s Surab district killed civilians, including several women, contradicting the Pakistani military’s account of the incident.
Tasnim, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said dozens of people were also injured and that all those affected were civilians.
Pakistani Air Force jets struck residential areas in Gidar Goandhan, Surab, in the early hours of Aug. 12, killing more than 20 people, including women and children, and injuring at least 16 others, according to local residents.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, gave a different account, saying eight militants were killed when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated while being prepared.
The military said the blast set off other explosives at the site, killing three civilians living nearby. It said Pakistani forces subsequently killed another 10 militants during an operation.
Affected families rejected the military’s account, saying Pakistani aircraft had bombed their homes.
Read More: Surab Protesters Reject Military Account as Civilian Deaths Draw Widespread Condemnation
Relatives placed the bodies of those killed at Surab’s main square along the N-25 Quetta-Karachi highway and began a sit-in demanding justice and accountability.
A shutter-down and wheel-jam strike was observed across several parts of Balochistan on Thursday in protest against the airstrikes and civilian deaths.