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IRGC Ground Force disbands terror cells, captures terrorists in Sistan and Baluchestan province

In this file picture, members of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) march during a military parade to commemorate the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Reuters)

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force has managed to dismantle two foreign-backed terror cells and arrest as many terrorists during a string of operations in the country’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan close to the border with Pakistan.

The Quds Base of the IRGC Ground Force announced in a statement on Thursday that its forces had smashed a terror cell following a series of surveillance measures over the past few days.

The statement added that Iranian forces detained two main members of the cell, and seized 154 rifles as well as a considerable amount of munitions as a result.

The IRGC Ground Force dismantled another terrorist team during a separate operation in the same province, confiscating 70 assault rifles and arresting two people in connection with the case.

Moreover, the Iranian forces captured two members of the so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group as they were trying to sneak through the border. They were handed over to judicial authorities.

The Pakistan-based Jaish al-Adl has conducted several bomb attacks and kidnappings in southeastern Iran in a bid to disrupt the country’s security.

The terrorist group enjoys all-out backing of the United States and some Arab countries in the West Asia region.

Sistan and Baluchestan province, which borders Pakistan, has witnessed several terror attacks targeting both civilians and security forces over the past years.

Terrorist groups carrying out attacks against Iranian interests in southeastern and southwestern parts of the country have known links to a number of repressive regimes in the Persian Gulf region.

Iran’s security forces have invariably protected the border areas and managed to repel almost all terrorist attacks by foreign-backed anti-revolution elements across the country.

Iranian intelligence forces arrest MKO member in central province

Elsewhere in the central province of Yazd, Iranian forces have identified and arrested a member of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group

Prosecutor of Ardakan city, Ali Mohammad Dashtakian, said the unnamed terrorist was captured following joint efforts by Iranian intelligence and security units.

He added that he was one of the key elements behind the recent violent riots in the city.

Riots erupted in Iran in mid-September last year when 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini died in a hospital in the capital Tehran, three days after she collapsed at a police station. An investigation later attributed Amini’s death to her pre-existing medical condition, rather than alleged beatings by the police.

The MKO has carried out numerous terrorist attacks against Iranian civilians and government officials over the past three decades. Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist attacks since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to the acts of terror carried out by the MKO.

The group was viewed by the EU as terrorist until January 2009, when the EU Council lifted the designation under immense pressure from political lobbies. The decision was followed by the United States in September 2012.


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