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| Suicide bomber kills 20 in attack on Iran Guards | ||
| 2009-10-18 | ||
| A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up at a meeting of senior military officers of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps in south-eastern Iran today, killing about 20 people and wounding another 40, news agencies said. The attack, the deadliest in Iran in recent years, occurred in the city of Pisheen, near the border with Pakistan in Sistan-Baluchestan province, Fars and ILNA news agencies said. "A man wearing an explosives vest blew himself up inside the meeting," the official IRNA news agency said. Iran's state broadcaster said the attack occurred at around 8am today (3.30pm AEDT) in front of a local gymnasium. Fars said the strike took place when officers from the Guards were preparing to stage a meeting between local leaders of Shiite and Sunni communities. Some local tribal heads were also among the slain, media reports said. "In this terrorist act, General Nur-Ali Shushtari, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces, General Mohammad-Zadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the Guards' commander for the town of Iranshahr and the commander of the Amir al-Momenin unit died," the news agency reported. Parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani confirmed the officers' death in an announcement to parliament which was broadcast on television. "The goal of the terrorists is to disturb the security of the Sistan-Baluchestan province," he told parliament. "It shows they do not want to have economic progress in this region. But certainly the Guards will act with more force to establish security in the region." Iran has previously accused shadowy Sunni group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) of launching regular attacks in the province, which borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The mostly Shiite Sistan-Baluchestan is home to a sizeable Baluch minority which adheres to Sunni Islam. Jundallah is strongly opposed to the Government of predominantly Shiite Iran.
Three commanders from the adjacent province of Kerman were among those killed, according to Fars news agency.
Controlling the scrubland and arid hills along the southeastern borders is a huge challenge that has been out of Iran's reach. Drug traffickers ferry opium and other narcotics through the cross-border badlands—a key source of income for the Taliban in Afghanistan and the ethnic Baluchi tribes that straddle the three-nation region and include members of Jundallah. Iran has pleaded for more international help to cut off the drug routes and criminal gangs. Iran also has accused Jundallah of receiving support from al-Qaida and the Taliban. "There is no evidence of outside help for Jundallah from wider militant networks," said Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism studies at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. "It's a homegrown group that moves across the borders within fellow Baluchi tribes. It is very hard to control the border." In an attempt to boost security in the region, Iran in April put the Revolutionary Guard directly in control of the Sistan-Baluchistan Province in Iran's southeastern corner. In Quetta, Pakistan, police official Akbar Sanjrani said Iran had closed at least one border crossing. He said Iranian authorities did not give a reason for blocking the route, but Sanjrani speculated it was related to the bombing. | ||
| Posted by:tipper |
| #17 TOPIX > IRAN IRGC VOWS CRUSHING RESPONSE FOR JUNDALLAH ATTACK. Top IRGC Commander claims that Jundallah Group will not be allowed to threaten the Iranian Nation any more. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-10-18 23:47 |
| #16 Suicide bombing is a way of introducing ordnance to a target. The moral issue is whether it's a military target, or innocent civilians to foment terror and political instability. This was moral, presuming the suicide bomber was fully informed. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2009-10-18 20:51 |
| #15 But, if they're smart, they hire a local fanatic-nut to do the job, during which they are far away, sipping martinis in the Holiday Inn while watching ESPN international. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-10-18 18:34 |
| #14 I won't lose a second's sleep over that. I thought most of the opposition was secular. Seculars don't execute suicide murders. |
| Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Grerelet4852 2009-10-18 17:11 |
| #13 ::golf clap:: |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2009-10-18 16:02 |
| #12 Joe, Although, as you say, the IRG is blaming the west, it is quite possible that funding from the other side of the Persian Gulf (Saudis, Kuwait, Qatar) is behind this particular attack. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2009-10-18 14:48 |
| #11 IRAN is appar blaming the BRITISH [ + US-ISRAEL] as being the mastermind(s) behind this attack - the Brits podt-attack were repor fingered almost "immediately" by Iranain state medias??? * ION WAFF > TALIBAN ASK THE SCO FOR HELP TO LIBERATE AFGHANISTAN. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-10-18 11:27 |
| #10 Campaigning Iran style, or Obama style. Eliminate the opponent. |
| Posted by: Injun Jutle2612 2009-10-18 11:03 |
| #9 What goes around comes around. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-10-18 10:48 |
| #8 The RG leadership are all buddies of Nutjob, and theirs is not a large cult, so every time one of them gets taken down, it is a serious gut punch to his power. The RG are mostly draftees, with only a few hardcore brigades of brown shirts to force Nutjob's will on the country. This means that they are often on the road, going from city to city, brutalizing then taking off for their next assignment. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-10-18 10:40 |
| #7 It happened in the Baloch part of Iran? |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2009-10-18 10:19 |
| #6 One hopes these two groups are very effective at killing each other. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-10-18 10:14 |
| #5 up to 29 dead now: A suicide bomber killed six senior Revolutionary Guards commanders and 23 other people on Sunday in one of the boldest attacks on Iran's most powerful military institution. Fox just said 30, and the number is expected to go higher. Apparently Allah doesn't like the RG |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-10-18 10:08 |
| #4 MO is taliban |
| Posted by: lord garth 2009-10-18 09:24 |
| #3 Allah tells us: "Wherever you are, death will overtake you, though you are in lofty towers, and if a benefit comes to them, they say: This is from Allah; and if a misfortune befalls them, they say: This is from you. Say: All is from Allah, but what is the matter with these people that they do not make approach to understanding what is told (them)?" Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2009-10-18 09:00 |
| #2 seems somewhat 'karmic' in a way i just cant put my finger on... |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2009-10-18 08:56 |
| #1 Heh.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-10-18 08:26 |