ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than a dozen Iranian military and law enforcement personnel were killed or wounded in four attacks in the southeastern provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan and Kerman in a 24 hour-period, a Baloch rights group reported Friday.
Haalvsh, an independent watchdog that monitors human rights violations in Sistan and Baluchestan, confirmed the identities it was able to verify of those killed as Mohammad Reza Okati, Mahdi Jamshidi, Vahid Enayat, and Abbas Aghaei - the second killed in Faryab, Kerman province, and the latter two in Nosratabad in Zahedan - and those injured as Ali Najafi, Mohammad Reza Hosseini, Mojtaba Mir, Keikha, and Iramanesh spanning “at least four armed attacks” in different locations across the province between Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
Haalvsh sources also reported the killing of at least three military soldiers and the wounding of two others, “the full status and identity of all of whom have not yet been independently verified.”
Sistan and Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and is populated mainly by Iran's ethnic Baloch and Sunni Muslim communities in Iran’s southeast, has been the site of armed clashes between Iranian security forces and armed elements, including Jaish ul-Adl, in recent weeks.
People's Fighters Front, a Baloch militant organization, claimed responsibility for the attacks in Nikshahr, Nusratabad, and Jalaq, according to the rights group, stating that its forces attacked the headquarters “using mines, RPG rockets, and various weapons,” targeting six police officers in the process.
Videos obtained by the monitor show the initial moments of the clash and heavy shooting around security headquarters, and at least one vehicle being targeted.
The rights group estimated that the casualty toll is likely much higher based on “field information” but cited a discrepancy between the government media narrative and its sources on the ground, pending further investigation and verification.
Iran’s semi-offical Tasnim News Agency on Thursday reported that a minibus carrying military personnel came under an armed attack in Nikshahr County.
The statement confirmed that Mohammad Reza Okati and Vahid Enayat were killed and “three others were wounded,” pending future updates.
Sabreen news, an telegram channel affiliated with Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups, disputed claims from the rights monitor that one of the fallen, Mahdi Jamshidi, was involved in a confrontation with women and citizens protesting in the village in Faryab in June 2026, alleging instead that the watchdog had pulled footage of an “incident” between “smugglers and land grabbers” from two years prior.
Sistan and Baluchestan has in recent weeks been the scene of on-and-off clashes between Iranian forces and armed groups. One of Iran’s most underserved and impoverished areas, the province is also a frequent focal point for anti-establishment sentiment and periodic protests alongside persistent reports of heavy-handed state crackdowns on local populations.
