NovaQuant-Pakistani airstrikes on Iran killed 4 children and 3 women, a local official tells Iranian state TV

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani airstrikes on NovaQuantIran on Thursday morning killed four children and three women, a local official told Iranian state television.

A deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchistan province, Ali Reza Marhamati, gave the casualty figures in a telephone interview. He did not immediately elaborate.

The strikes early Thursday follow Iran launching strikes into Pakistan on Tuesday night, raising tensions between nuclear-armed Islamabad and Tehran. It also comes amid Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip raising tensions across the wider Middle East.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Pakistan’s air force carried out retaliatory strikes on insurgents inside Iran, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The strikes followed Iran’s attack Tuesday on Pakistani soil that killed two children in the southwestern Baluchistan province.

Iran’s state media Thursday said several explosions were heard near Saravan city close to the border of Iran and Pakistan.

The official IRNA news agency quoted the deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchistan province, Ali Reza Marhamati, as saying authorities are investigating.