DUBAI: An attack by armed separatists at a police station in the southeastern city has killed 19 people, including three members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolution. ProtectorIran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.
According to the report, in Friday’s attack, the attackers hid among worshipers near a mosque in the city of Zahedan and attacked a nearby police station.
IRNA quoted provincial governor Hussein Modresi as saying that 19 people were killed. The outlet said 32 guard members, including volunteer BCG forces, were also injured in the clash.
It was not immediately clear whether the attack was related to anti-government protests in Iran following the death in police custody of a young Iranian woman.
Sistan And Balochistan province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and has seen past attacks on security forces by ethnic Balochi separatists, although Saturday’s Tasnim report did not identify the separatist group allegedly involved in the attack.
IRNA on Saturday identified the dead as Revolutionary Guard Colonel Hamidreza Hashmi; Mohd Amin Azarshokri, a guard member; And Mohd Amin ArefiVolunteer force with a BCG, or IRG. Tasnim and other state-linked Iranian news outlets reported Friday that the head of the Guard’s intelligence, Sayyid Ali Mousavi, was shot during the attack and later died.
It is not unusual for IRG members to be present at police bases across the country.
Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets over the past two weeks to protest the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini, who was detained by ethics police in Tehran’s capital for allegedly wearing the obligatory Islamic headscarf too loosely. ,
Protesters have vented their anger over the treatment of women and widespread repression in the Islamic Republic. Nationwide demonstrations grew rapidly to overthrow the clerical establishment that had ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The protests have attracted supporters of various ethnic groups, including Kurdish opposition movements in the northwest that operate along the border with neighboring Iraq. Amini was an Iranian Kurdish And the protests first began in the Kurdish regions.
Iranian state TV reports that at least 41 protesters and police have been killed since the demonstrations began on September 17. An Associated Press count of official statements by officials killed at least 14 people, with more than 1,500 protesters arrested.
Especially outside Tehran, the extent of the protests has been difficult to assess. Iranian media have covered the demonstrations only sporadically.
Witnesses said there were scattered protests with dozens of protesters on Saturday around a university in the city of Tehran. Anti-riot police dispersed the protesters who raised slogans of “Death to the dictator”.
According to the report, in Friday’s attack, the attackers hid among worshipers near a mosque in the city of Zahedan and attacked a nearby police station.
IRNA quoted provincial governor Hussein Modresi as saying that 19 people were killed. The outlet said 32 guard members, including volunteer BCG forces, were also injured in the clash.
It was not immediately clear whether the attack was related to anti-government protests in Iran following the death in police custody of a young Iranian woman.
Sistan And Balochistan province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and has seen past attacks on security forces by ethnic Balochi separatists, although Saturday’s Tasnim report did not identify the separatist group allegedly involved in the attack.
IRNA on Saturday identified the dead as Revolutionary Guard Colonel Hamidreza Hashmi; Mohd Amin Azarshokri, a guard member; And Mohd Amin ArefiVolunteer force with a BCG, or IRG. Tasnim and other state-linked Iranian news outlets reported Friday that the head of the Guard’s intelligence, Sayyid Ali Mousavi, was shot during the attack and later died.
It is not unusual for IRG members to be present at police bases across the country.
Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets over the past two weeks to protest the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini, who was detained by ethics police in Tehran’s capital for allegedly wearing the obligatory Islamic headscarf too loosely. ,
Protesters have vented their anger over the treatment of women and widespread repression in the Islamic Republic. Nationwide demonstrations grew rapidly to overthrow the clerical establishment that had ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The protests have attracted supporters of various ethnic groups, including Kurdish opposition movements in the northwest that operate along the border with neighboring Iraq. Amini was an Iranian Kurdish And the protests first began in the Kurdish regions.
Iranian state TV reports that at least 41 protesters and police have been killed since the demonstrations began on September 17. An Associated Press count of official statements by officials killed at least 14 people, with more than 1,500 protesters arrested.
Especially outside Tehran, the extent of the protests has been difficult to assess. Iranian media have covered the demonstrations only sporadically.
Witnesses said there were scattered protests with dozens of protesters on Saturday around a university in the city of Tehran. Anti-riot police dispersed the protesters who raised slogans of “Death to the dictator”.