Tension High in Iran’s Baluchestan after Attack on Police

Tension simmered in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan on January 10 following reports of an armed clash near the city of Rask. 

Local sources described hearing gunfire and explosions near the village of Bidlad Jangal, located roughly two kilometers from Rask, according to Haalvsh, an organization that monitors rights violations in the restive province.

Details remain scarce, but initial reports suggest that an armed group attacked a police outpost at dawn.

State media said that at least one police officer was killed in the attack.

Hours later, the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility through a message on its Telegram channel. 

The statement claimed the police had suffered "significant losses." 

After the clash, the authorities reportedly deployed extra forces to the area and blocked roads leading to the site of the clash. 

Sistan and Baluchistan has been the scene of similar attacks in the past.

Last month, an official told state television that at least 11 police officers were killed in an attack on the police headquarters in Rask.

This assault was also claimed by the group Jaish al-Adl.

Unrest in Sistan and Baluchistan province has involved drugs-smuggling gangs, Baluch rebels and Sunni extremists.

The provincial capital, Zahedan, was the scene of months-long deadly protests that erupted in September last year.