Iran says 17-hour battle with separatists leaves 28 dead in 2 cities

Jaish al-Adl, a Baloch ethnic group designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Iranian security forces fought off simultaneous terrorist attacks by a militant separatist group in a southeastern province that raged for nearly 17 hours, with intense exchanges of fire in the streets of two cities that resulted in the deaths of 10 security officers and 18 activists, according to the Interior Ministry on Thursday.

State television reported broadcast images of armed men running through the streets of Sistan-Baluchestan province as loud explosions of rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire rocked the two cities, and large plumes of smoke billowed into the 'air. Forty-four people were injured, the ministry said.

Jaish al-Adl, a Baloch separatist group designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for responsibility for the attack. attacks.

Iran's Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi told state television that fighting raged for hours, from 22 hours to 10 p.m. Wednesday at 3 p.m. the following day. The armed men entered homes, taking civilians hostage to use as human shields, but security forces released them, he said. The militants wore vests filled with explosives and several of them blew themselves up during the fighting, he added.

The gunmen attempted to seize military bases belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is responsible for securing Iran's borders, in the towns of Chabahar, which houses a seaport, and Rask, according to a statement from the guards published in Iranian media.

“They did not achieve their sinister goals and failed,” Mr. Mirahmadi said on state television. "Their objective was to seize the Revolutionary Guard headquarters in Rask and martyr the security forces, as well as capture the Guards headquarters, naval outposts and security force headquarters in Chabahar."

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