Pakistan-Iran border tensions: A timeline

The Iranian missile attacks on Pakistan are only the latest incident of tension along their border.

Pakistan and Iran stand at the verge of a breakdown in diplomatic ties after an Iranian missile attack on Pakistan that killed two children and injured three others on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, Pakistan recalled its ambassador from Tehran after denouncing the attack, and barred Iran’s envoy to Islamabad — who is travelling — from returning to Pakistan.

Islamabad accused Iran of violating Pakistani airspace. and Iranian state media said missiles targeted two bases of armed group Jaish al-Adl.

But while the rhetoric from Islamabad points to a growing crisis sparked by the Iranian attacks, the two countries have frequently had to navigate tensions along their 900km-long (559-mile) volatile border.

Here is a recap of a few past instances of violence, some of which have soured the diplomatic relationship between the neighbours:

The Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), which is blacklisted by Iran as a “terror” group, claimed responsibility for a police station attack in the Iranian town of Rask on the southeastern border province of Sistan-Baluchestan, which killed 11 Iranian security personnel. The attack was condemned by Pakistan.

Pakistani military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), released a statement saying armed “terrorists” killed two Pakistani soldiers at a checkpoint in the Singwan area of the Kech district. Pakistan contacted Iranian authorities to thwart attempts by fighters to escape into Iran.

The ISPR announced that attackers from Iran killed four of its border patrol soldiers in the Jalgai sector of Kech district.

Shahbaz Sharif, who was Pakistan’s prime minister at the time, condemned the