Jaish
ul-Adl leader Salam Rigi was arrested in Pakistan while traveling by Bus in the
country’s southwest. Salam led the Iranian-Baluch Sunni militant organization
Jaish ul-Adl (Army of Justice), which has conducted a number of terrorist
attacks against Iranian security forces in the Iranian Baluchistan in the past
two years, including kidnapping of 5 border guards and killing of one of them
last year. Jaish ul-Adl is the successor to Jundallah. Salam Rigi’s cousin, Abdolrahman
Rigi, headed that organization before he was kidnapped by Iranian security
forces and brought to Iran and hanged in 2010.
File photo: Iranian border guards kidnapped by Jaish ul-Adl, February
2014. (pic.twitter.com/DBAeR59YVY)
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.
Two powerful explosions, believed to be suicide bombings, killed at least 27 people and injured 275 more in Zahedan, the capital of Iran’s Baluchistan. The Sunni Baluch militant group Jundallah took responsibility for the blasts.
The first bomb went off at the city’s Grand Mosque at 920pm local time on Thursday. The second blast went off at the same place within minutes of the first blast.
Jundallah, whose leader was executed in Tehran last month, said the blasts targeted IRGC officers gathered at the mosque to celebrate the birthday of Shia’s revered Imam Hussein. No independent report on IRGC casualty was available.
UPDATE: The two powerful explosions at Zahedan’s Grand Mosque were the result of suicide bombings. Jundallah, which took the responsibility for the bombings, has identified the two suicide bombers believed to be among the dead as Mohammad Rigi and Mojahed Abdelbaset. Jundallah referred to Rigi and Abdelbaset as teenagers, without disclosing their age. There was no information about any possible family ties between Mohammad Rigi and Junadalla’s former leader Abdelrahman Rigi who was executed in Tehran last month.
The blasts left 27 dead, and more than 300 injured. 11 of the injuries have been described as critical and life threatening. 137 of the injured have already been released from hospitals.
The suicide bombings happened when pilgrims had filled the Grand Mosque to capacity in observation of the birthday of Imam Hussein and the Pasdar (“IRGC”) Day. There are reports of casualties among IRGC officers who were in attendance to observe the Pasdar Day.
UPDATE: In the aftermath of the deadly suicide bombings in Zahedan, the city’s representative in Majlis, the Iranian parliament, resigned his post in protest to what he called the government’s inability and unwillingness to protect his constituents. Dr. Hussein Ali Shahriari, the Zahedan deputy and the chairman of Majlis public health committee, said in his resignation letter that he had warned the security officials many times that a terrorist attack was inevitable, with Rigis wanting to prove their continued existence, but no heightened security measures were taken, resulting in the tragedy that left 27 people killed and hundreds injured.
Abdulmalik Rigi, the former leader of Jundallah, was hanged today at Evin prison in Tehran on charges of “corruption on earth.” Rigi was arrested in February by Iranian intelligence agents when he was flying over the Persian Gulf en route from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan. He had led a bloody campaign in his province of Iranian Baluchistan against the country’s security forces and the IRGC.
Rigi's younger brother, Abdulhamid, was executed last month in Zahedan. He had been captured in Pakistan in 2008 and extradited to Iran. The two brothers were the young heads of Rigis, historically the most prominent Sunni family in Baluchistan. Their executions are major blows to Jundallah. The militant group had been involved in many terrorist acts. Their bombing attacks have killed dozens in recent years, including five senior IRGC commanders.
The governor of Iranian Baluchistan said on Saturday that the Iranian government has offered amnesty to 110 members of Jundallah, with some insurgents handing over their weapons to the authorities. Governor Ali Mohammad Azad added that some 200 more insurgents have sought amnesty.
Iranian intelligence agents arrested Jundallah’s leader, Abdulmalik Rigi, in February when he was en route from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan. Rigi’s arrest has had a devastating effect on Jundallah, a traditional tribal hierarchical organization. Members of Jundallah were following Rigi out of their loyalty to the top tribal leader. Without Rigi, they might not feel as compelled to continue his cause. The demise or marginalization of Jundallah would be an important victory for the Islamic Republic in the country’s southeastern border region.
Iran’s intelligence agents have freed an Iranian diplomat who had been abducted in Pakistani town of Peshawar in November 2008. Heshmatollah Attarzadeh was going to work at the Iranian consulate in the city when abducted. The Iranian authorities did not give any details on the operation resulting in Mr. Attarzadeh’s freedom, even though they hinted that it was a cross-border operation.
The news comes weeks after the Iranian agents captured Iran’s most-wanted leader of a Sunni militant group during a daring operation. Then the Iranian Air Force jets forced a flight from Dubai to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to land in Iran and the agents reportedly picked up then-Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi from the plane.
In today's Asia Times Online, there is a piece written by Mahan Abedin titled Iran's spies show how it's done, detailing aspects of Iran's arrest operation of Rigi. It's well worth the read. Excerpts:
The imagery - and the concomitant political message - was compelling. The image of a young man being surrounded by balaclava-clad security officers by the side of a small commercial plane was designed to send the strongest possible message to Western intelligence services, their political masters and the Western public in general. If the West led by the mighty United States has failed in its nearly nine-year pursuit of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, embattled Iran managed to get its man with minimal political and economic cost.
Aside from frustrating American subversion efforts in Iran's southeast, the capture of the Jundallah leader sends an unmistakable message that in the intelligence wars of the Middle East, the Islamic Republic of Iran has once again seized the initiative. The repercussions of this will be felt across all spheres and at all levels, boosting Iran's diplomatic and political posture in the region, and thus making the country less vulnerable to American and Israeli bullying.
[...]
The Islamic Republic prides itself on having efficient and adaptive security and intelligence services. Iranian officials often cite the successful experience of these agencies in countering a broad range of security and intelligence threats, including terrorism by left-wing and secessionist groups and intense espionage and subversion activities by Western intelligence services, over the past 30 years to underscore their skills and capabilities. It seems that the full gamut of these capabilities was deployed against Jundallah and its local allies in Iran and Pakistan to great effect, to the extent that the group is now for all intents and purposes decapitated and probably a spent force.
[...]
Iranian intelligence had been monitoring Abdulmalik Rigi round the clock since August 2009, but moving against him was difficult due to strong American backing and the fear of exposing invaluable methods and agents.
But the major suicide bombing on October 18, 2009, which targeted a conference hall in the Pishin area of Sistan and Balochistan where senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders were hosting a reconciliation meeting with local tribal elders, killing dozens of IRGC officers, including the deputy commander of the Guards' land forces, forced a decisive move against Rigi.
[...]
Security sources in Tehran are keen to highlight Abdulmalik Rigi's jet-set lifestyle, describing constant travel between Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Islamabad, Kabul and Central Asian capitals since early 2006.
[...]
In any event, security sources in Tehran tell Asia Times Online that they have "massive" amounts of information and documents in their possession that link Jundallah to the CIA and specialized branches of the United States military operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They also claim that the CIA had prior knowledge of the suicide bombing in Pishin in October (which was a massive blow against the IRGC) but there is an ongoing debate within security circles in Tehran as to whether the Americans had actively instigated the terrorist attack.
The outcome of this debate may well have serious repercussions, possibly prompting IRGC Qods force retaliation against American secret agents operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The IRGC Qods force is believed to have identified every noteworthy component of American intelligence activity in the region and the Qods force has the capability to strike a deadly blow against American intelligence assets in the region and beyond.
[...]
By any standard, Abdulmalik Rigi's arrest is a major success for the Islamic Republic's intelligence services. This dramatic operation has boosted the morale of Islamic Republic loyalists throughout the Middle East and caused considerable dismay and embarrassment to Iran's Western enemies.
[...]
Rigi's arrest once again tip[s] the balance of confidence in favor of the Iranians, especially since, unlike Mabhouh's assassination [by Israel], the operation was carried out with flawless precision and efficiency and moreover it was neither immoral nor did it violate any international laws.
At the start of the film, the aircraft appears to be a Boeing 737-300 series, matching the initial description in the Russian press from Bishkek. This plane actually appears to be an Eastok Avia Boeing 737-301 (see photo below), which matches the flight details of Kyrgyzstan Airlines QH 454, operated by Eastok Avia, enroute from Dubai (DXB / OMDB) to Bishkek-Manas, Kyrgyzstan (FRU / UAFM).
There is a very brief clip of a blindfolded man removed from the aircraft, amid footage devoted to the passengers being inconvenienced and re-boarded using an Iran Air ramp stair.
Rigi is seen in what appears to be a cargo hold of a small plane, wearing a different blindfold then the one later seen while he is in the passenger compartment of the IRIAF Dassault Falcon (Mystere) 20E.
Perhaps this film footage is related to that referred to by PressTV last week, as the Islamic Republic of Iran was pressing Kyrgyzstan diplomatic officials on its apparent flip-flopping of accounting for what transpired on its aircraft.
These reports over the ID found on Rigi at the time of his arrest tend to dispel conspiracy theories of Pakistan directly turning him over to Iranian authorities:
ISLAMABAD: The recovery of a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card from the possession of Abdolmalek Rigi, an Iranian terrorist and head of Jundallah group, has put a question mark on the Nadra’s “self-proclaimed secure” registration system.
The card was recovered by Iranian security personnel when Rigi was arrested while travelling on a flight heading to an Arab country via Pakistan on Feb 23.
The interior ministry claimed that it was a fake card, and not issued by the National Database Registration Authority.
Iranian authorities are reported to have informed Pakistan about the recovery of the CNIC carrying photograph of Abdolmalek Rigi and sought an investigation into the matter, but the government did not make it public.
However, the interior ministry had to issue its point of view only when a TV channel telecast the news about Rigi’s identity card.
The recovery of CNIC from the terrorist leader has thrown a challenge to security of Nadra’s database and its official slogan “deception no more”.
At the time of arrest Rigi was allegedly carrying a CNIC bearing number 42201-5884556-1 issued in the name of Saeed Ahmed, son of Ghulam Haider. The card shows his year of birth as 1978.
A press release issued by the interior ministry said: “Rigi’s brother, also an Iranian national, possessed a fake national identity card of Pakistan, who was later extradited. Pakistan has always claimed that Rigi has not been staying here and the stance has been ratified by his recent arrest while holding Afghan passport.”
Rigi’s card was found to be original when checked through a general procedure of Nadra by simply sending an SMS message to a number, 7000.
A senior Nadra official told Dawn that the card was issued in 2004 while the authority had acquired the facility of biometrics and facial scanning in 2005.
The facility enables Nadra to record finger and thumb impressions as well as facial features.
He said Rigi’s card was fake because it showed a thumb impression on the card despite the fact the biometrics system in Nadra started working in 2005. No thumb impressions of applicants were taken before introduction of the system, he added.
The official also rejected reports that Nadra had issued over 25,000 fake CNICs to foreign nationals. “First of all, this is impossible and, secondly, Nadra has nothing to do with the registration of foreigners because it is done by the National Aliens Registration Authority (Nara).”
He said Nadra’s system was so secure that it foiled over 250 attempts of getting fake CNIC in a day. It had so far prevented from issuing over 85,000 fake cards, he added.
However, the official did not rule out the possibility that CNICs would have been issued to some Afghan nationals who were born in Pakistan and managed to get the cards on the basis of manual ID cards issued to their parents over two or three decades ago.
“But these manual ID cards cannot be used for any transaction and traced whenever they are used,” he added.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) announced that the Pakistani ID-card of the ringleader of the Jundollah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, is fake, dismissing earlier media reports that Rigi was a Pakistani citizen.
Sources said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry had sent a letter of protest to Islamabad after a NADRA-issued card was retrieved from Rigi during his capture in Iran late February.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry protested at Islamabad for issuing a Pakistani ID-card for Rigi, saying it showed the country's cooperation with the terrorist gang.
While NADRA said Rigi has forged the mentioned document, Pakistan's state-run TV underlined the ID-card was original and issued by the Pakistani department.
A press release by Pakistan's interior ministry said Rigi's brother, Abdolhamid, an Iranian also has a fake Pakistani identity card.
Iranian authorities had earlier presented evidence to Islamabad that showed links between Pakistani intelligence services and the Jundollah terrorist group and called on Pakistani officials to capture and extradite Rigi to Tehran based on a mutual security agreement signed between the two neighboring countries.
The documents were based on the confessions made by Abdolhamid who is currently in prison in Iran.
The Kyrgyz foreign ministry today denied that any foreign nationals had been removed from the flight between Dubai and Bishkek once it had been grounded in Iran.
"Information... published in some media about the detention of foreign nationals on board the Kyrgyzstan Airlines aircraft does not correspond with reality," the foreign ministry statement said [AFP, 1 March].
The strange denial by Kyrgyzstan adds to the mystery surrounding Rigi’s arrest. Iran’s interior minister had already contradicted the official version by saying that Rigi was arrested in a foreign country and then brought back to Iran. The Pakistani ambassador in Tehran has also claimed that Rigi’s arrest could not have happened without his country’s direct involvement.
Some Iran watchers now believe that Rigi was arrested by Pakistani ISI and transported to Iran aboard a Pakistani falcon corporate jet. The forced landing of the Kyrgyz jet in Bandar Abbas could then be a diversion tactic to mask the arrest by ISI.
In a related development, the Kyrgyz government launched a protest with Iran for forcing one of its passenger planes to land in its territory.
"Kyrgyz ambassador Medetkan Sherimkulov met with the deputy foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran and protested on the inadmissibility of such actions from the Iranian side," the Kyrgyz foreign ministry statement said.
Captured ringleader of the Jundallah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, confesses that the Obama administration had assured him of unlimited military aid and funding for waging an insurgency against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The following is the detailed transcript of Rigi's confession, stated in Farsi, as broadcast on Press TV:
"After Obama was elected, the Americans contacted us and they met me in Pakistan. They met us after clashes with my group around March 17 in (the southeastern city of) Zahedan, and he (the US operative) said that Americans had requested a meeting."
"I said we didn't have any time for a meeting and if we do help them they should promise to give us aid. They said they would cooperate with us and will give me military equipment, arms and machine guns. They also promised to give us a base along the border with Afghanistan next to Iran."
"They asked to meet me and we said where should we meet you and he said in Dubai. We sent someone to Dubai and we told a person to ask a place for myself in Afghanistan from the area near the operations and they complied that they would sort out the problem for us and they will find Mr. Rigi a base and guarantee his own security in Afghanistan or in any of the countries adjacent to Iran so that he can carry on his operations.
"They told me that in Kyrgyzstan they have a base called Manas near Bishkek, and that a high-ranking person was coming to meet me and that if such high-ranking people come to the United Arab Emirates, they may be observed by intelligence people but in a place like Bishkek this high-ranking American person could come and we could reach an agreement on making personal contacts. But after the last major operation we took part in, they said that they wanted to meet with us.
"The Americans said Iran was going its own way and they said our problem at the present is Iran not al-Qaeda and not the Taliban, but the main problem is Iran. We don't have a military plan against Iran. Attacking Iran is very difficult for us (the US). The CIA is very particular about you and is prepared to do anything for you because our government has reached the conclusion that there was nothing Americans could do about Iran and only I could take care of the operations for them.
"One of the CIA officers said that it was too difficult for us to attack Iran militarily, but we plan to give aid and support to all anti-Iran groups that have the capability to wage war and create difficulty for the Iranian (Islamic) system. They reached the conclusion that your organization has the power to create difficulties for the Islamic Republic and they are prepared to give you training and/or any assistance that you would require, in terms of telecommunications security and procedures as well as other support, the Americans said they would be willing to provide it at an extensive level."
Iran's security forces arrested Rigi on Tuesday by bringing down his plane over Iranian airspace, as he was onboard a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan.
Graphic depicting Rigi capture operation. Rigi's passenger plane (likely B-737, Kyrgyzstan Airlines QH 454, operated by Eastok Avia), enroute from Dubai (DXB / OMDB) to Bishkek-Manas, Kyrgyzstan (FRU / UAFM), with 113 passengers onboard, is forced to land at Bandar Abbas/TFB.9 (BND / OIKB) by two intercepting IRIAF F-4E Phantom II strike fighters of 91 TFS.
VEVAK commandos stormed the aircraft and apprehended Rigi. From Bandar Abbas/TFB.9, he was placed onboard an IRIAF Dassault Falcon (Mystere) 20E, flown to an undisclosed location (likely Mehrababd/TFB.1) and incarcerated.
New video. Quick translation: Rigi went to a US military base in Afghanistan; he traveled to Dubai and boarded a plane to Kyrgyzstan; from there he planned to travel to Europe. While in Iranian airspace, Rigi's plane was forced to land in Iran.
