Iran Strikes Pakistan: Know All About Sunni Militant Bases

Amid the deadly Isreal-Gaza war, Iran launched an airstrike on Pakistan’s reported “militant bases” in the Balochistan province. The airstrike was aimed at the Sunni militant group, Jaish al-Adl. The attack comes after Iran launched its ballistic missiles on Iraq and Syria to destroy anti-Iranian spy bases in the two countries. It came as an answer to the double suicide bombing by the Islamic State (IS) that shook Tehran and claimed more than 80 lives. 

It is still unclear whether Iran thinks that Jaish al-Adl was involved in the bombing or not. However, the militant group has actively attacked Iranian security forces within its border area with Pakistan. 

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the missile attack on Balochistan, which lies within 1000 kilometres of the border between the two nations. According to the ministry, the attack killed two children and injured four others. According to CNN’s report on an interaction with Panjgur district’s Deputy Commissioner, Mumtaz Khetran, the killed children were two girls, aged 8 and 12. The two were killed in houses that were damaged in the attack in the village of Koh-e-Sabz in Kulag, about 60 kilometres from the district. Khetran also said a mosque near the homes was targeted and hit in the strikes.

Koh-e-Sabz, about 50 kilometres from Pakistan’s border with Iran, is known to be the home of Jaish-ul-Adl’s former second-in-command, Mullah Hashim, who was killed in clashes with Iranian forces in Sarawan, an Iranian region adjacent to Panjgur, in 2018. 

What is the Sunni Militant Base, Jaish-al-Adl?

Jaish-al-Adl, formerly known as Jundallah, is a Sunni militant group in Sistan-Baluchistan, the southeastern province of Iran, known for its diverse ethnic groups, including the Baluch people. 

This separatist militant group is also known as the “People’s Resistance of Iran” and was formed by Abdolmalek Rigi in 2002. Rigi was captured and executed by the Iranian forces in 2010. Since then, the group has divided itself into several factions, with Jaish-al-Adl emerging as the most prominent and active faction. 

JAA’s objectives are to raise awareness of the predicament of the Baluch people and to obtain acknowledgement of the Baluchi's cultural, economic, and political rights from the Iranian government. Jaish-al-Adl has been declared a terrorist group by Iran, the US, Japan, and New Zealand. 

Since 2019, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has continuously warned Pakistan not to harbour separatist militants within its borders. 

The Iranian military in Rask was the subject of two strikes by Jaish-al-Adl earlier this month and in December 2023.12 Iranian police officers lost their lives in two separate attacks on security personnel in Rask, in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, in less than a month. Jaish-al-Adl and Iranian forces clashed multiple times in 2023, resulting in the deaths of at least eight Iranian police personnel.

Pakistan has protested against Tehran, and the chief of the Iranian embassy in Islamabad has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to Pakistan's statement, the airstrike was “completely unacceptable” and "the responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran.”