Suicide Bombing in Chabahar Kills 2 and Injures 28

An explosion involving a vehicle carrying explosives in front of the police headquarters in Chabahar county, Sistan and Baluchestan province, resulted in the deaths of 2 people and injuries to at least 28 others.

According to media reports, at 9:55 on Thursday, December 6th, a vehicle carrying explosives attempted to enter the Chabahar police headquarters compound. After an altercation with police officers, the vehicle’s occupants detonated it in front of the entrance to the headquarters.

Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the IRGC Ground Forces, who was present at the scene, stated that this explosion was of no “benefit” to “terrorists” and that only a few guards were killed in the attack.

He added that no group has yet claimed responsibility for the incident.

The IRGC Ground Forces commander told ISNA that forces of his organization have a “presence” throughout Chabahar.

Some media outlets, mostly close to conservatives, reported that the “Ansar al-Furqan” group claimed responsibility for the incident; however, neither this group nor official sources have confirmed such reports.

Last summer, Iranian media reported, citing the IRGC Ground Forces’ “Quds Base,” that Jalil Qanbarzadeh, leader of this group, had been killed in an operation.

MohammadReza Nasekh, head of the Emergency Medical Center at the Iranshahr University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, reported that 28 people were injured in the attack, with 3 of them in critical condition. It is said that at least 4 of the injured are from law enforcement.

The victims of the incident have been identified as Captain Dariush Ranjbar and conscript Naser Darzadeh.

Simultaneously, Iran’s police force issued a statement stating that investigation of this matter “will continue until the identification and arrest of the perpetrators and planners of this terrorist attack and decisive action against those responsible.”

In the hours immediately following the explosion, some police officials reported the death of Chabahar’s police commander; however, this report was denied after several hours. The death toll from the attack was initially reported as 3, then 4, and finally 2.

This is one of several such attacks in Iran in recent months.

Chabahar is a port city in southern Iran that was previously reported to be exempted from recent American sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, stated at that time that the purpose of this was to “assist in Afghanistan’s economic development.”

Charbahar port, located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Oman and in line with the Strait of Hormuz, is set to become a new transit route from international waters to Central Asia under a tripartite agreement between India, Afghanistan, and Iran.

Voice of America