Sunni Militants Attack Security Forces in Iran's Southeast
The insurgent Sunni Baluch group Jaish al-Adl on Thursday launched simultaneous attacks against military posts in southeastern Iran, which left at least 11 security forces dead.
The insurgent Sunni Baluch group Jaish al-Adl on Thursday launched simultaneous attacks against military posts in southeastern Iran, which left at least 11 security forces dead.
The simultaneous attacks claimed by Jaish al-Adl targeted law enforcement headquarters in Chabahar, belonging to Iran's Border Guards, and the Revolutionary Guard's base in Rask, both in the restive Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran's Deputy Minister of Interior Majid Mirahmadi told the IRGC-affiliated Fars News early Thursday.
Iran’s official news agency IRNA initially said five members of security forces including an IRGC officer, a Basij paramilitary force, a conscript and two police forces were killed by the assailants. However, the numbers were revised upwards by noon on Friday to 11 security personnel killed, including seven Revolutionary Guards.
Five militants were also killed in clashes with security forces, IRNA reported.
Mirahmadi said militants had set up ambushes along the nearby roads to prevent security forces from chasing them.
In Rask, Mirahmadi said, the militants "failed to breach the Revolutionary Guards' base thanks to the resistance of our forces."
"One of the terrorists was killed, and the clashes continue, with terrorist forces also under siege," he said, calling the incident an "act of terrorism".
He said one militant was also killed in Chabahar and several others were wounded, but clashes were still under way early Thursday.
Jaish al-Adl has carried out dozens of large and small operations over the years against Iranian military forces, particularly the IRGC, including cross-border attacks and abduction of border guards and security personnel as well as bombings leading to the killing of civilians.
In January, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for targeting an IRGC vehicle carrying officers near the city of Iranshahr in Iran's restive Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
Two days earlier the group had taken responsibility for an attack on an IRGC base in Saravan and claimed a sentry had been shot.
Iran’s IRGC, in turn, targeted Jaish al-Adl's positions in Pakistan's Balochistan province, while Pakistan retaliated by bombing hideouts of armed Baloch separatists in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province.
The strikes led to a rapid deterioration in diplomatic relations between Islamabad and Tehran, with both countries withdrawing ambassadors and severing official ties amid heightened rhetoric.
Jaish al-Adl has been designated as a terrorist organization by Iran, whose officials often refer to it as Jaish al-Zulm (Army of Injustice) and “Takfiri terrorists.” The United States put the group on its foreign terrorist organizations list in 2010.
Iranian officials often allege that the group has ties with US, Saudi, and Israeli intelligence agencies and is funded by them.
Jaish al-Adl was founded by Abdul Rahim Mollazehi, a Baluch militant, in 2012 by reorganizing Jundullah (Army of God), also known as the People’s Resistance of Iran.
Updated at 8:30 GMT, April 4