Iranian state media reported on Thursday that at least 11 troops were killed overnight when suspected Sunni Muslim militants attacked a police station and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) headquarters in the restless province of Sistan-Balochistan. The IRGC claimed 16 of the militants were also killed in the battle.
The militants allegedly belonged to Jaish al-Adl, one of several aggressive militant groups active in the Sistan-Balochistan region, which spreads across the border between Iran and Pakistan.
Jaish al-Adl, which means “Justice Army,” has attacked IRGC outposts and convoys on several previous occasions. The militant group is primarily composed of Sunni Muslims of Baloch ethnicity, whereas Iran is ruled by an authoritarian Shiite Muslim theocracy that often mistreats ethnic and religious minorities.
The Iranian regime frequently accuses the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Pakistan of covertly supporting Jaish al-Adl in the hopes that its terrorist attacks will destabilize southeastern Iran.
Pakistan also has chronic problems with militants and drug traffickers in its Balochistan region. In January 2024, Iran and Pakistan each struck across its border to attack Balochistan militants on the other side, bringing tensions between the two countries to the brink of war.
Wednesday night’s attack took place in the towns of Chabahar and Rask, which lie close to Iran’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan. The attackers reportedly perpetrated one of Jaish al-Adl’s deadliest attacks to date by storming IRGC headquarters with gunmen and suicide bombers.
Iran’s IRNA news service said the militants created a state of “siege” at one of the sites they attacked and took several hostages. Eyewitnesses reported Iranian helicopters sweeping into the area to support ground forces as the battle continued.
Sistan-Baluchistan deputy governor Alireza Marhamati pointed to Jaish al-Adl as the perpetrators soon after the attack occurred, saying the goal was to seize control of both the IRGC base and the police station, although neither effort was successful. He described Jaish al-Adl as being “affiliated with the Zionists,” meaning Israel.
Jaish al-Adl later took credit for the action on its Telegram channel.
Al Jazeera News speculated the militants were emboldened by the suspected Israeli missile strike on Damascus, Syria, that killed two senior IRGC commanders on Monday.
