ISLAMABAD: The body of a Pakistani national that a local charity said was killed in an “Israeli attack” in Iran earlier this month has been handed over to his family, the organization said on Tuesday, with no official confirmation of the circumstances surrounding his death.
The case highlights conflicting and unverified accounts emerging from the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, where details of individual incidents and airstrikes remain difficult to independently confirm.
“The body of a Pakistani citizen Yasir Khan, who was martyred in an Israeli attack in Iran on Mar. 23, was handed over to his relatives and the Edhi Taftan Emergency Center at the Taftan border,” the Edhi Foundation said in a statement.
However, several Pakistani media outlets reported that Khan, 26, was killed in a US strike on March 23 when a vessel he was working on in Iran’s Bandar Abbas port came under attack.
Pakistan’s foreign office and other government authorities have not confirmed either account.
The Edhi Foundation said three other Pakistani nationals injured in Iran were also repatriated via the Taftan border and shifted to a local hospital.
“Only the body of martyred Yasir Khan is being transported from the Taftan border to Karachi via an Edhi ambulance,” the charity said.
Pakistan has advised its citizens in Iran and Gulf countries to exercise caution as the conflict escalates.
The war, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, has since disrupted shipping routes, pushed up oil prices and raised fears of wider regional instability.
Four Pakistani nationals have also been killed in the United Arab Emirates since the conflict began, after debris from intercepted missiles fell during attacks.
