10 Iranian border guards killed in Sistan and Baluchistan; Jaish al-Adl claims responsibility for statement
Iran's Judiciary News Agency reported that nine Iranian border guards were killed on the Iranian-Pakistani border. The clash took place in the border town of Mirjaveh, 70 kilometers southeast of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan province.
According to Mizan News Agency, following a clash between the border guards of the Mirjaveh Border Regiment and the armed forces, three officers of the Islamic Republic of Iran's police force and seven soldiers of the force were killed.
Ali Movahedirad, the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Zahedan, announced on Wednesday night that the Army of Justice group has claimed responsibility for the clash in Mirjaveh in a statement. The Adalat News website, which covers news from the "Army of Justice Iran" organization, has not yet mentioned the clash.
This is the second such incident in recent months. Some ethnic tensions have led to these clashes.
The Jaish al-Adl group, a remnant of Jundallah, was formed after the execution of its leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, to "fight the Islamic Republic." Dozens of people have been killed in clashes between the group and agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past three years.
Groups such as Jundallah and Jaish al-Adl say that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is indifferent to the rights of the Sunni and Baluch minorities in the region and see armed struggle as the only way out.
Previously, Abdul Sattar Doshuki, director of the Baloch Studies Center in London, said in a brief interview with Voice of America that Sunnis do not have a good experience with the Iranian judiciary.
Sistan and Baluchestan province has witnessed numerous clashes between armed individuals and IRGC and police forces in recent years. Some of these armed individuals are drug and fuel smugglers or people and vehicles suspected of smuggling, with whom law enforcement or military forces clash.
However, there have also been attacks on Iranian military and law enforcement forces by groups that consider themselves defenders of Sunni or Baluch rights. The Islamic Republic of Iran considers these groups to be terrorists.
Source: Voice of America
