Pakistan’s top military and civilian leaders are conducting a national security review over the standoff with Iran after the neighbouring countries targeted each other with missile strikes that have raised fears of further instability in the region.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar called the meeting on Friday, a day after the nuclear-armed nation launched strikes on the hideouts of armed groups in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, killing at least nine people.

Pakistan’s action followed Iran’s air raids against the armed group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan’s southwestern border province of Balochistan, in which two people died.

A security official said the chief of army staff and head of the intelligence services were attending the meeting, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.

Kakar cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, following the attack.

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Islamabad, said the attendees will discuss the fallout of what is happening in the southern part of the country.

“These areas are problem areas for both Pakistan and Iran, and proxies aligned to both countries have been operating in this region for years now,” he said.

“They have carried out tit-for-tat attacks against each other, but the recent developments are unusual as both countries militaries are involved this time around, using ballistic missiles, drones and heavy ammunitions against each other,” our correspondent said.

“But in the last 24 hours, things seem to have calmed down as there have been no more attacks by either side,” he reported, adding that the two countries are now trading diplomatic messages.

(Source: AlJazeera)