One member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was killed and another wounded during armed clashes in Sistan-Baluchestan province on Wednesday, the IRGC’s Quds base said in a statement.
According to the statement, 13 militants were killed and others arrested in three separate operations across the cities of Iranshahr, Khash, and Saravan — areas that have seen a surge in violence in recent weeks.
According to the rights group Haalvsh, the Iranshahr operation began around 5 a.m. in the Chah-Jamal area and continued for several hours, with residents reporting the sound of sustained gunfire and visible plumes of smoke. Images sent to Haalvsh showed two destroyed vehicles being towed away by a crane.
In Saravan, local sources reported that IRGC forces surrounded a house in the village of Houshak and struck it with heavy weapons and drones, resulting in a large explosion and fire.
The Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, designated a terrorist organization by both Iran and the United States, issued a statement acknowledging it had suffered casualties in the confrontations but said details were still being verified.
The operations come less than a week after gunmen killed five Iranian police officers in an ambush near Iranshahr, which authorities blamed on militant groups. Jaish al-Adl previously claimed responsibility for that attack, as well as earlier assaults in Saravan and Zahedan.
In response to that violence, the IRGC said it had destroyed two militant cells in the province, seizing explosives and communications equipment. The Guards said the militants were planning sabotage and bombings with the help of safe houses identified by local informants.
Sistan-Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long been a center of insurgency by Sunni militant groups and is considered one of Iran’s most restive regions.
