Iran hits back

No, not outside its borders. You may recall this post about an incident in the SE Iranian province of Sistan-Balochistan where gunmen killed 26. Some government officials were targets of the attack.

Iran's regime is not the regime to take that sort of thing lying down. Today there was this news:

Iran has killed the leader and 11 members of a Sunni militant group responsible for murdering 26 people in southeastern Iran, press reports said.

"Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the terrorist group, the Jundullah (Soldiers of God) ... was killed in an operation on the border with Afghanistan," Iran's hardline Kayhan daily said, quoting an unidentified source in the interior ministry.

The group had reportedly carried out an ambush in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan in March that left 26 people dead and another 12 missing, according to Kayhan.

From Iran's perspective, quite a success to get the leader of this group. Since emerging in June 2005, the Jund Allah has shown signs of becoming quite a thorn in Iran's side.

Meanwhile, across the border in Pakistan's Balochistan province,

Three Pakistan army men were killed and four injured in firing by angry Baluch tribesmen over their vehicle in southern Pakistan on Friday afternoon, official sources in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan Province, said.

They said that Mengal tribesmen had blocked the Quetta-Karachi road to protest over the police action against their tribal chief and head of Baluchistan National Party, Akhtar Mengal, in Karachi on Thursday.

This account describes the aforementioned police action involving Mengal:

A day-long siege of the Clifton residence of the chief of Balochistan Nationalist Party (BNM), Sardar Akhtar Mengal, on Wednesday came to an end at around midnight when law-enforcement agencies arrested his two guards and a driver.

The arrests were made after negotiations between Sardar Mengal and DIG Operations Mushtaq Shah.

Talking to newsmen, Mr Mengal identified the arrested guards and driver as Mehboob Ali, Nasrullah and Ghulam Haider. "I offered myself for the arrest but they did not take me, instead they staged a drama by placing a day-long siege. I asked them to show an FIR but they didn't. The police said that three people were wanted who would be taken away."

This sparked a reaction from BNP supporters:

Balochistan National Party Mengal activists on Thursday blocked all major highways in southern Balochistan in protest at the siege of Sardar Akhtar Mengal’s Karachi house and arrest of his three guards.

The Quetta-Karachi road was blocked at Khizdar, Wadh, Qalat and Mastung, the Quetta-Taftan road was blocked at Naushki, the Quetta-Jacobabad road was blocked at Kolpur and the Coastal Highway was blocked at Gwadar when the BNP activists staged a sit in at Zero Point.

Protestors chanted slogans on Saryab Road in Quetta and pelted stones at government vehicles. BNP Information Secretary Sana Baloch said that police provoked the workers and then fired teargas at them. He claimed that strike was successful.

A powerful device reportedly exploded in a market but no causalities were reported. A party worker was injured when tribesmen opened fire in the Mangochar area.

Sana Baloch said that a meeting of an alliance of four Baloch parties was held on Thursday. Hasil Bezenjo of the National Party chaired the meeting attended by representatives of the Balochistan Naional Party, Haq Tawar, Natinal Party and Jamhoori Watan Party.

Baloch said they would hold talks with other political parties like the Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party and would launch a movement against the government after the second week of April. He demanded the government withdraw forces from Balochistan, stop military activity, send non-Baloch in the Frontier Corps back to their provinces, release detainees and provide jobs to the Baloch people.

Pakistan seems intent on going after Baloch leaders. Earlier in the week, Balochistan Liberation Army chief Ghazyan Mari was arrested in Dubai.