ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Sunni Baloch member of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force was killed by gunmen in Iran’s southern Sistan and Baluchestan province, state media reported Sunday, as police separately announced that two alleged armed robbers were killed in a clash in the same province.
The Basij member, operating under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was identified as Najim Shahbakhsh, and was attacked while heading home in the Kurin area of Zahedan county, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported, citing an unnamed source.
The source alleged that the attacker was working for the United States and Israel but provided no evidence supporting that allegation.
The clash comes amid an uptick in attacks against Iranian security forces and figures associated with the IRGC in the restive southern province as Tehran grapples with increasing economic pressure from the US. Iran has frequently characterized opposition groups as part of Israeli or US proxy networks.
Meanwhile, the Balochestan Human Rights Documentation Network reported Saturday that Shahbakhsh was shot while riding his motorcycle in the city of Zahedan. The attackers’ identities and motives were unknown, it said.
The killing follows several attacks on security personnel in Sistan and Baluchestan, where Iranian forces have long confronted armed Baluch groups.
In a separate report, IRIB quoted the province’s deputy police commander saying officers killed two members of an alleged armed car-theft gang during a confrontation in Khash’s Irandegan district.
Police said “two Kalashnikovs, five magazine blades, 60 live ammunition, a stolen license plate, and a stolen Toyota… as well as two Toyota and Peugeot vehicles” were impounded. The report did not identify those killed.
Sistan and Baluchestan borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and is one of the most impoverished provinces in the country. The province has seen a slew of armed clashes and deadly attacks in recent weeks.
A police officer was shot dead while driving home in Khash on Friday night, both state media and a rights group reported. Earlier this month, gunmen killed another officer outside his home in Saravan and a local IRGC commander in Fanuj.
