TEHRAN: An attack, which was later claimed by a Sunni Muslim extremist group, killed a policeman in restive southeastern Iran on Wednesday, state media reported.
Sistan-Baluchistan province, where the attack took place, is one of the few mainly Sunni provinces in Shiite-dominated Iran and has seen persistent unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs and rebels from the Baluchi ethnic minority as well as extremists.
“In an exchange of fire this morning between forces from a police station in Rask and members of an armed group, one of the policemen was killed,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.
The news agency said the firefight lasted around three hours before the arrival of police reinforcements prompted the assailants to withdraw.
The attack was claimed by extremist group Jaish Al-Adl (Army of Justice) in a brief statement on its Telegram channel. Jaish Al-Adl was formed in 2012 and is blacklisted by Iran as a “terrorist” group.
It was the second deadly attack on security forces in Rask claimed by the group in recent weeks.
At least 11 officers were killed in a similar attack on a police station in the town before dawn on December 15.
Sistan-Baluchistan province borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and has long been regarded as a key access point for militant groups, drug smugglers and irregular migrants.
Last week, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi announced new measures to firm up security along the porous border, following twin suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State extremist group that killed more than 90 people at a high-profile state event in the southern city of Kerman.
Vahidi said authorities had identified “priority points to block along the border.”
Attack claimed by extremists kills policeman in southeast Iran
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Attack claimed by extremists kills policeman in southeast Iran
Saudi Arabia, UAE condemn drone attack against Emirati consulate in Irbil
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has joined the UAE in condemning a drone attack targeting the Emirate’s consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Irbil, it said in a statement early on Tuesday.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said late on Monday that it had downed three drones in Irbil, with debris from one of the drones falling near the UAE consulate.
It said no casualties were reported.
Saudi Arabia, in a statement released through its foreign ministry, expressed its ‘strongest condemnation’ of the targeting of UAE’s consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan.
A UAE foreign ministry statement earlier said the attack “represents a dangerous escalation and a threat to regional security and stability,” adding that “targeting diplomatic missions and premises constitutes a flagrant violation of all international norms and laws.”
It also called on the Kurdistan regional government to investigate the circumstances of the attack, identify those responsible and hold them accountable.
