Another 10 terrorists have been killed or arrested during an anti-terror operational exercise in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, following a foreign-backed terrorist attack on a police convoy in the province that claimed the lives of 10 police forces.
Ahmed Shafayee, spokesman for the anti-terror exercise conducted by the Quds Base of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force, said six foreign-backed terrorist elements were arrested and four others perished in the south of Sistan and Baluchestan.
He said security forces managed to deal heavy blows to the terrorists in the “Martyrs of Security” exercise which has been underway since the ten law enforcement forces were killed last month.
Shafayee said the security forces were from the Intelligence Directorate-General of Sistan and Baluchestan, and operational units of the Quds Base of the IRGC as well as the counter-terrorism units of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The fatalities brings to 14 the number of terrorists who have been arrested and to eight those who have been killed in the south of Sistan and Baluchestan since the past week.
Shafayee noted that “the main elements of the terrorist group who played a role” in the last month’s attack in Taftan were among those arrested.
Weapons and ammunition, including American weapons, were also seized during the operation, he said, adding that efforts are ongoing to arrest the perpetrators behind insecurity in Sistan and Baluchestan.
The IRGC Ground Force has staged a counterterrorism exercise, codenamed “Martyrs of Security”, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province since November 1.
The drill comes in the wake of a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan on October 26, which killed 10 members of Iran’s law enforcement forces.
The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.
The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.
In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.