Three IRGC Officers Killed in Baluchistan

Three IRGC officers were killed in an attack by armed men on a border post near the city of Saravan in Iranian Baluchistan late on Sunday. The Iranian media called the attackers either “armed bandits” or “terrorists.” It was not clear if they belonged to the Iranian Baluch insurgent group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) that has been fighting the security forces in the region from their sanctuaries inside Pakistan.

File photo: An Iranian border guard in Baluchistan (FNA)

Iran Warns Pakistan against Insurgent Activities on Iran Border

IRGC Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami said today that the Iranian military may enter Pakistani territory in pursuit of Iranian Baluch insurgent group Jaish al-Adl if the Pakistani government does not take concrete actions against them. In recent months, the militant group has carried out several armed attacks on border posts in Iranian Baluchistan. Four LEF officers were killed in two separate attacks in border city of Saravan on 8-9 October.

Last week an LEF aircraft carrying several senior LEF officers crashed near Zahedan, the provincial capital. The LEF team was to visit the area to investigate the recent attacks by the insurgents.

Jaish al-Adl (“Army of Justice”) and its predecessor organization, the Jundallah, have waged an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic, employing terrorism, kidnapping and armed attacks on LEF. The group says it is fighting against the government for its sectarian anti-Sunni policies and to protect the Sunni rights in Baluchistan.  

IRGC’s Gen. Salami said that maintaining border security should be an important common issue between Iran and Pakistan.

“We do not interfere in the affairs of any country, but if they do not fulfill their obligations we have to act,” Salami said. (IRNA/Trend, 16 October)

File photo: An Iranian border guard in Baluchistan (FNA)

Iranian Border Guards Freed by Militants - UPDATE

Hostages Were Freed at Iran-Afghanistan Border

Iran’s semi-official Fars news Agency reported that the Baluch militant group Jaish ul-Adl has freed Iranian border guards today and handed them to Iranian authorities. The group took five guards hostage in February, but said it executed one of them, and threatened to execute the rest if Iran did not free all imprisoned Baluch militants.

It was not clear if Iran accepted Jaish ul-Adl demands and freed any prisoners. The Iranian authorities said last month they were negotiating with the militants, without disclosing any details, to free NAJA border guards.

Fars News Agency named the freed guards as Ramin Hazrati, Sajad Zahani, Mohammad Nezami and Jamshid Taimouri. Jamshid Danayeefar, the fifth guard who was kidnapped, was executed by the group in March. Fars did not say if Danayeefar’s body was delivered to Iranian authorities.

UPDATE I: Al Arabiya reported that Jaish ul-Adl freed the border guards on request of Baluchistan’s religious leader Molana Abdol-Hamid and other regional leaders.

Abdol Raoof Rigi, a spokesman for the group, told reporters that Jaish ul-Adl would return Danayeefar’s body if the Iranians return the bodies of Baluch militants executed in Iran.  Abdol Raoof is the brother of Abdol Malik Rigi, the leader of Jundallah who was kidnapped by Iranian agents and later executed in Iran.

UPDATE II: The four freed guards were handed over to the Iranian authorities at Iran-Afghanistan border in Afghan Baluchistan, Nimrooz province, and were taken to Zabol, the nearest Iranian city. (Al Arabiya, 4 April)

Photo credit: The four NAJA border guards shown moments before being freed, being “interviewed” by Adl Network of Jaish ul-Adl; 4 April 2014 (Al Arabiya) 

Jaish ul-Adl: Execution of Iranian Border Guard – Confirmation by Iran

UPDATE: Iran has confirmed that the militant Baluch group Jaish ul-Adl has executed one of the five border guards. (Fars News Agency, 25 March)

Jaish ul-Adl identified the slain guard as Pasdar Corporal First Class Jamshid Danayeefar. Fars New Agency has identified Danayeefar by a red circle in the original photo released by Jaish ul-Adl (above.)

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The militant Baluch group Jaish ul-Adl on Sunday announced the execution of one of the five Iranian border guards it has kept in detention since abducting them on 6 February in Jakigour region, on Iranian side of Baluchistan. 

Jaish ul-Adl announced the execution on its Twitter account. It identified the slain guard as Pasdar Corporal First Class Jamshid Danayeefar. The group said its action was in retaliation of the recent execution by Iran of one of its own members. The group also said it would deliver Danayeefar’s body to the authorities in return for 50 bodies of its members it claimed to have been executed in Iran.

Today, Iran’s official news agency IRNA conformed the report of the execution, citing an informed source in Pakistan. The Iranian Interior Ministry, however, denied the report. Its spokesman said, “We don’t confirm this report; were it true, we would have been informed.” (Fars News Agency, 24 March)

Iranian Interior Ministry did not say who would have informed them if the report were true. Jaish ul-Adl is believed to have transferred the guards to Pakistani Baluchistan. If true, then the powerful Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, with its vast presence in the province, should know about the location where the guards are kept. IRNA and Interior Ministry did not disclose the sources of their conflicting reports, or whether the Iranian authorities are coordinating their actions with their Pakistani counterparts and the ISI.  

The Iranian authorities had said in recent days that they were negotiating with the militants for the border guards’ release, without disclosing the terms of such agreement. Now that Jaish ul-Adl has announced the execution of one of the guards, it is not clear if they would still pursue negotiations, as opposed to engaging in military operations, including sending in the IRGC’s Special Forces, that they had hinted last month, to free the rest of hostages. 

Iran Punishes Military Officers After Guard Abductions

Court Martial and Dismissal from Service 

Iran has dismissed from service several military officers, and some would be subjected to court martial proceedings, for deleriction of duty in connection to the abduction of five Iranian border guards by the Iranian Baluch militant group Jaish ul-Adl, Iran’s border guard commander Brig. Gen. Hossein Zolfaqari announced today. (Mehr News Agency, 17 March)   

On Saturday, a member of Iranian Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told reporters that the abducted guards were expected to be released before the start of the Persian New Year (21 March) through “negotiations and agreement” with the kidnappers.

Gen. Zolfaqari also criticized the Pakistani government and intelligence services and said they should intensify the security forces along the border.

The guards were abducted in the Jakigour region in Iranian Baluchestan on 6 February and are believed to have been taken to the Pakistani side of the border.

The Jaish-ul-Adl tweeted on 26 February that its religious court has sentenced the five Iranian guards to death.

Photo credit: A photo of five Iranian border guards held by Jaish al-Adl; published in group’s website on 9 February.

Iran Border Guards Still Held by Baluch Militants

Iranian Interior Ministry said today that the five border guards abducted on 6 February by Baluch militants are still held by their captors. Last week, IRGC Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, Armed Forces General Staff deputy for Basij Affairs, had announced that the guards, believed to be held in Pakistani Baluchistan, were rescued during a Pakistani military operation.

“The country’s five border guards recently abducted and transferred to neighboring Pakistan are unharmed and in good health,” Interior Ministry spokesman Hossein Ali Amiri said.(Fars News Agency, 4 March)

The militant group Jeish al-Adl (“Army of Justice”), the apparent successor to Jundallah, has claimed responsibility for the abductions, and in statements posted in its website has set several conditions for their release, including the release of its 50 prisoners in Iran, as well as 50 female militants and 200 other Sunni militants imprisoned in Syria. (Fars News Agency, 4 March)

Photo credit: A photo of five Iranian border guards held by Jaish al-Adl, presumably held in Pakistani side of Baluchistan; published in group’s website on 9 February.

Rigi terror convict arrest documentary (Persian)

New documentary aired this week on Iranian television, on the background and arrest of Jundallah leader Rigi. Rigi was arrested, convicted of terrorism and executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Interesting timing for the release of this documentary, following closely the abduction of five NAJA border protection guards on the Pakistan border in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province. A number of photos and forged documents found in possession of Rigi were also published in Iranian media.

Earlier this week, also, IRI Security Deputy to the Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi claimed the five NAJA border protection guards are known to be safe and that Iran expects Pakistan “to fulfill its security commitments” in securing the guards' safe release from their Jaish al-Adl captors.

Video: FARS News Agency