New Delhi

Suspected Sunni Muslim terrorists killed at least a dozen Iranian security officers while 16 of them were killed in attacks on Iran's Revolutionary Guards headquarters in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan bordering Pakistan, state media said on Thursday (April 4). 

Advertisment

The attacks by terrorists from the Jaish al-Adl group took place overnight and targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guards headquarters in Rask and Chabahar, located in the Sistan and Baluchestan provinces, the reports said.

Also watch | Terror outfit Jaish Al-Adl carries out attack on Iran's military post, clashes still underway

×

Advertisment

Jaish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, is a separatist militant group that operates both in Iran and Pakistan and has previously claimed responsibility for attacks against Iranian targets. Its stated goal is the independence of overall Shia majority Iran’s only Sunni-majority Sistan and Baluchestan province.

"The terrorists failed to succeed in achieving their goal of seizing the Guards headquarters in Chabahar and Rask," Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi told state TV.

State TV claimed that 10 other security officers were also injured in the fighting in the impoverished region, which has a predominantly Sunni Muslim population.

Advertisment

Also read | Explained | Why did Iran attack Pakistan? What is Jaish al-Adl group targeted by Tehran?

In January, Iran targeted two bases of the terrorist group in Pakistan with missiles, following which Pakistan claimed to have executed a retaliation over what it said were separatist terrorists in Iran.

Iran claimed to have carried out "precision missile and drone strikes" against Jaish al Adl in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province on Jan 16.

Also read | Pakistan says two children killed after Iran struck 'terror group's bases in Balochistan'

Pakistan had condemned the Iranian airstrike inside its borders and claimed that it killed two children.

The Iranian airstrikes inside Pakistan had come weeks after Tehran accused Jaish al-Adl militants of storming a police station in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, which killed 11 Iranian police officers.

(With inputs from agencies)