Gunmen kill 11 people in attack on police station in Iran

Islamist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) claims responsibility for attack

File: Iran’s police forces stand on a street during the revival of morality police in Tehran (via REUTERS)

At least 11 people were killed and several others sustained injuries after suspected members of a separatist group opened fire in a police station in southeastern Iran.

Senior police officers and soldiers were among those killed in the attack that took place around 2am (local time) on Friday in Rask town, located nearly 1,400km from the capital Tehran.

Some of the gunmen were killed in the shootout, said Ali Reza Marhemati, the deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchistan province. “In the terrorist attack on the police headquarters in the town of Rask, 11 policemen were killed, and others were wounded,” he said in a statement.

“The officers at the targeted police station defended themselves bravely and wounded and killed some of the assailants,” he added.

The attack was claimed by Islamist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), according to state TV.

At least eight other police officers were wounded in the ambush, the authorities said.

Deputy interior minister Majid Mirahmadi said one of the "terrorists" had been arrested while two of them were killed in the shootout.

Advocacy group HalVash, which reports on issues affecting the Baloch people, shared a video online that purported to include the heavy gunfire that accompanied the predawn attack. It also showed helicopters later flying over the area in daylight.

The minister said a search was underway to find the gunmen who had separately ambushed deployed forces to stop them from reaching the shootout.

Four policemen were earlier killed on 23 July while on patrol in a similar ambush attack. That came two weeks after two policemen and four assailants were killed in a shootout.

The Jaish al-Adl, which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the ethnic minority Baloch people, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a bus that killed 27 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard force in 2019.

The impoverished province of Sistan-Baluchestan, bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan has a predominantly Sunni Muslim population, compared to most Iranians, who are Shiite.

The region was the site of heavy crackdowns on rallies following nationwide protests over the death in police custody of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in Tehran who had been detained for allegedly improperly wearing an Islamic veil.