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Dubai: Two police officers and four attackers were killed on Saturday when gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a police station in the predominantly Sunni city. Zahedan In Iran’s restive southeast, state television reported.
Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, was the scene of some of the bloodiest protests during last year’s wave of unrest over the killing of a young Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police.
An armed group operating in the area called the Army of Justice, or Justice Armyclaimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack in a social media post, saying it was in response to the killing of protesters by security forces on September 30, 2022.
It added that the targeted police station was “one of the perpetrators of the attacks bloody Friday’s misfortune in Zahedan.
State television said the “four terrorists” were killed in the raid.
Amnesty International said that security forces killed at least 66 people in a crackdown on protesters on 30 September.
The authorities dismissed Zahedan’s police chief and the head of a police station afterwards, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent a delegation to negotiate with critical Sunni Baloch clerics.
Public anger escalated in Zahedan in the run-up to the September 30 crackdown after allegations circulated on social media that a teenage girl had been raped by a police officer.
Molavi AbdolhamidIran’s most prominent Sunni cleric and longtime critic of Iran’s Shiite leaders condemned the attack on the police station and urged Balochistan residents to avoid actions that could lead to a breakdown in security.
Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, is one of the poorest provinces of Iran and a major drug-smuggling route.
Human rights groups say the Baloch minority, which numbers an estimated two million, has faced discrimination and oppression for decades.
Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, was the scene of some of the bloodiest protests during last year’s wave of unrest over the killing of a young Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police.
An armed group operating in the area called the Army of Justice, or Justice Armyclaimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack in a social media post, saying it was in response to the killing of protesters by security forces on September 30, 2022.
It added that the targeted police station was “one of the perpetrators of the attacks bloody Friday’s misfortune in Zahedan.
State television said the “four terrorists” were killed in the raid.
Amnesty International said that security forces killed at least 66 people in a crackdown on protesters on 30 September.
The authorities dismissed Zahedan’s police chief and the head of a police station afterwards, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent a delegation to negotiate with critical Sunni Baloch clerics.
Public anger escalated in Zahedan in the run-up to the September 30 crackdown after allegations circulated on social media that a teenage girl had been raped by a police officer.
Molavi AbdolhamidIran’s most prominent Sunni cleric and longtime critic of Iran’s Shiite leaders condemned the attack on the police station and urged Balochistan residents to avoid actions that could lead to a breakdown in security.
Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, is one of the poorest provinces of Iran and a major drug-smuggling route.
Human rights groups say the Baloch minority, which numbers an estimated two million, has faced discrimination and oppression for decades.
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