ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least four people, including a police officer, were killed on Sunday in a clash between security forces and “armed individuals” in Iran’s restive southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, state media reported.
The clashes, in Sistan and Baluchestan’s Saravan border region, took place between security forces and “armed individuals,” Iran’s state IRNA news agency said, citing a police statement.
“One police officer was martyred in the clash, and another was injured and sent to a medical center,” it said, adding that “police officers killed three of the armed attackers and are pursuing the remaining attackers.”
The main Baluchi armed group, Jaish al-Adl, is active in the area, but has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
Attacks on Iranian security forces in Sistan and Baluchestan province are frequent. Armed Baluchi groups, primarily Jaish al-Adl, operate in the province that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. They have waged an insurgency against Tehran and carried out numerous attacks against its forces, especially the IRGC.
In July, at least six people were killed and a dozen others were injured when a courthouse in Sistan and Baluchsestan was attacked. The semi-official Tasnim news agency blamed the attack on Jaish al-Adl.
Jaish al-Adl was added to the United States list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 2019 by the first administration of President Donald Trump. The designation was in response to a deadly attack by the group that killed 27 IRGC members near Sistan and Baluchestan’s provincial capital of Zahedan.
Baluchis are a mainly Sunni ethnic minority in Iran, living predominantly in the Baluchestan region near the border with Pakistan. The population was active during nationwide protests in September 2022, and hundreds of Baluchis were killed by the IRGC in a heavy crackdown.
