DUBAI (Reuters) – Gunmen and suicide bombers launched a deadly attack on a police station in Zahedan, a mostly Sunni city in Iran’s restive southeast. The assault resulted in the deaths of two police officers and four attackers, according to state television.
Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, gained attention during last year’s wave of nationwide unrest. The city witnessed some of the most violent protests sparked by the tragic death of a young Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police.
Claiming responsibility for the attack in a social media post, Jaish al-Adl, a militant group operating in the area, declared it as a retaliation for the deaths of protesters killed by security forces on September 30, 2022. The group labeled the targeted police station as a significant player in the “Bloody Friday calamity in Zahedan”.
State television confirmed that all four terrorists involved in the raid were killed.
Following the September 30 crackdown on demonstrators, Amnesty International reported that security forces had killed at least 66 people. As a response, authorities dismissed Zahedan’s police commander and a police station chief, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dispatched a delegation to negotiate with critical Sunni Baluch clerics.
Prior to the crackdown, public anger intensified in Zahedan due to allegations circulating on social media about the rape of a local teenage girl by a police officer.
Molavi Abdolhamid, Iran’s prominent Sunni cleric and a long-time critic of the country’s Shi’ite leaders, condemned the attack on the police station. He urged Baluchistan residents to refrain from actions that could jeopardize security.
Sistan-Baluchistan, which shares borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is known as one of Iran’s poorest provinces and a significant route for drug trafficking.
For decades, human rights groups have raised concerns about discrimination and repression faced by the Baluch minority, estimated to be around 2 million people.
Reporting by Dubai newsroom. Editing by Kim Coghill, Alison Williams, and Helen Popper.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
