Courthouse attack in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province leaves 5 dead

An armed attack by the Jaish al-Adl militant group on a courthouse in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province killed at least five people and injured 13, Iranian media reported.

Three assailants were also killed in the ensuing clashes with security forces, a senior police official told the state news agency IRNA. He said a mother and child were among those killed by the gunmen who threw a hand grenade into the building in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan.

Iranian media said Jaish al-Adl had in a statement taken responsibility for the attack. Reuters could not immediately confirm this. The Baloch human rights group HAALVSH, quoting eyewitnesses, said several judiciary staff members and security personnel were killed or wounded when the assailants stormed the judges’ chambers.

Sistan-Baluchestan province, near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to Iran’s Sunni Baloch minority, who have long complained of economic marginalisation and political exclusion. The province frequently sees clashes between security forces and armed groups, including militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.

The Iranian government accuses some of them of ties to foreign powers and involvement in cross-border smuggling and insurgency. Though attacks targeting judges are rare, two judges were killed in January in a shooting attack at the apex court building in Tehran.