ISLAMABAD - Pakistan shot down an Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Panjgur sector on the Pak-Iran border, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The drone was hit by Pakistan Air Force as it was unidentified and was flying at around 3-4 kilometres inside Pakistani territory, said a foreign ministry statement.

“Pakistan has already shared the information about striking down of this drone with the Iranian authorities indicating that the drone was struck down by our security forces as it was unmarked and there was no prior information about its flight,” it said.

Pakistan and Iran are going through a tense phase of bilateral ties as Tehran blames Islamabad of providing shelter to terrorists. Pakistan rejects the allegations. Recently, Iran even threatened to strike inside Pakistan to target terrorists.

Allowing former army chief Gen (Retd) Raheel Sharif to command a Saudi Arabia-led military alliance of several Muslim states was also criticised by Iran. The alliance was formed by Saudi Arabia in December 2015 with its headquarters in Riyadh. Iran had objected to the formation of the alliance fearing it was a Sunni-alliance rather than a Muslim alliance. The government had also delayed approval to Raheel Sharif – considering Iran’s objections - for several months before finally giving a nod.