ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian military and security forces engaged in clashes with unidentified gunmen in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province on Wednesday, according to a Baloch rights group and Iranian state-affiliated media.
Clashes ensued at around 1 pm local time in the town of Jihadabad, Baloch rights group Haalvsh reported, citing local sources who heard heavy gunfire in the area. Iranian forces deployed additional military and security personnel, including helicopters.
Haalvsh initially stated that clashes were ongoing and that no casualties had been reported. The identities of the armed men and the cause of the confrontation were unclear at the time.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency published video from the area shortly after and quoted Ali Khalilabadi, deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan for security affairs, saying that three members of the group were killed during an operation to clear a gathering place in Jihadabad.
Khalilabadi said confronting “armed cells” in southern Sistan and Baluchestan remained a priority for the province's security and law enforcement agencies, according to Tasnim.
The conflicting accounts did not immediately establish the identities or affiliations of the armed men involved.
The latest violence comes amid a recent series of armed confrontations and targeted killings in Iran's Kurdish-majority northwest and Baloch-majority southeast. In Sistan and Baluchestan, Iranian security forces recently engaged in hostilities with Baloch armed groups, while several people affiliated with the state have also been killed in attacks.
Sistan and Baluchestan lies in southeastern Iran and borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. The predominantly Sunni province has long faced attacks by Baloch armed groups and security operations by Iranian forces.
Earlier this month, three members of Iran's IRGC were killed in a clash with Baloch militants in Saravan, according to semi-official Iranian media. The People’s Fighters Front, a Baloch armed group operating in the province, said one of its units in the Bakhshan area had come under attack by Iranian military and security forces.
Days later, Sunni cleric Yousef Gorgij was shot dead in Zahedan. His reported ties to the IRGC and Iranian government institutions prompted attention, although the perpetrators and motive remained unclear
