Nine killed in courthouse attack in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province: Iranian media

At least nine people were killed in an armed attack by the Sunni Jaish al-Adl Baluch group on a courthouse in Iran’s restive Sistan-Baluchestan province on Saturday, including three of the assailants, state media reported.

Another 22 were injured, according to the report.

Jaish al-Adl confirmed the deaths of its three members in the clashes with security forces in Zahedan, the capital of the far southeastern province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sistan-Baluchestan is home to Iran’s Sunni Muslim Baluch minority, who have long complained of economic marginalisation and political exclusion.

A toddler and a 60-year-old woman were among those killed, as well as three soldiers and law enforcement personnel assigned to the courthouse, the head of the province's judiciary told IRNA. He did not identify the sixth dead person.

He said the attackers wore explosive vests and carried grenades. It was not clear if they had detonated them.

Jaish al-Adl, which claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Telegram account, said it had killed at least 30 members of the judiciary and security forces. It said it targeted judges and court personnel, whom it accused of issuing death sentences and house demolition orders to Baluch citizens.


Reuters