Free Republic

TEHRAN, Iran – A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 37 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency. The attack — which also left dozens wounded — was the most high-profile strike against security forces in an outlaw region of armed tribal groups, drug smugglers and Sunni rebels known as Jundallah, or Soldiers of God. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised sharp retaliation. But a sweeping offensive by authorities is unlikely. Iranian officials have been reluctant to open full-scale military operations in the southeastern border zone,...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — At least five commanders of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were killed and dozens of others left dead and injured in two terrorist bombings in the restive region of the nation’s southeastern frontier with Pakistan, according to multiple Iranian state news agencies. The coordinated attacks appeared to mark an escalation in hostilities between Iran’s leadership and one of the nation’s many disgruntled ethnic and religious minorities, in this case the Baluchis. The southeast region, Sistan-Baluchistan, has been the scene of terrorist attacks in the past, and in April the government put the Guards Corps in...

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani lawmaker defended a decision by southwestern tribesmen to bury five women alive because they wanted to choose their own husbands, telling stunned members of parliament this week to spare him their outrage. "These are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them," Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents Baluchistan province, said on Saturday. "Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid." The women, three of them teenagers, were shot and then thrown into a ditch. They were still breathing as their bodies were covered with rocks and mud, according to reports, which said their only...

A lower Shari’ah Court in Shira Local Govern-ment Area of Bauchi State has sentenced a 34-year-old female singer, Talatu Mai-Gurmi, to two months imprisonment or N5,000 fine for staging a traditional musical concert. The convict was arrested by the Shari’ah enforcement agents, Hisba, with two other singers, Dan-Kawu Mai-Garaya and Odoji Mai-Kotso, for allegedly contravening the shariah law. The incident occurred at Yana, headquarters of Shira local government area of the state. While Mai-Gurmi pleaded guilty to the one-count charge, Mai-Garaya and Mai-Kotso pleaded not guilty to the offence which contravened sections 95 and 365 of the sharia penal code....

Tehran, 18 Feb. (AKI) - A man known as Sharif has reportedly stoned his fourteen-year-old daughter to death in southeastern Iran because for allegedly having a relationship with a man. Sharif's wife reported him to police after he and a friend killed the girl in Zahedan, capital of Baluchistan province. Sharif showed no sign of remorse, telling police who interrogated him: "I suspected that my daughter had a relationship with a man and I had to stone her to death as she had besmirched my honour." "I had no other choice," he said, telling police how he had carried out...

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani security forces killed a top figure in the Taliban militia fighting U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and captured four other militants Monday, a military official said. Mansoor Dadullah, brother of slain Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah, was among five militants caught after a shootout near a seminary in southwestern Baluchistan province around 10 a.m., a local intelligence official told The Associated Press. A senior military official said Dadullah died of his wounds while being flown to a hospital with the other four injured men. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they...

Excerpt - Yesterday's suicide bombing at the Kamra Air Force Base in Punjab was not the first strike at a nuclear weapons storage facility. After a closer look at the bases struck inside Pakistan since August, at least two more strikes occurred either on or near nuclear weapons storage facilities, based on open source information on Pakistan's nuclear weapons programs. Since August 2007, there have been two suicide attacks at or near the Sargodha Air Force Base, a nuclear weapons and missile storage facility in central Punjab province. Other attacks in Punjab and the Northwest Frontier Province may be aimed...

First it was Bangladesh now it Baluchistan Hussain Gadehi November 27, 2007 Lesson from History Burning Baluchistan is reminding us of Dhaka, where Al_Badar myriad thousands Bengali professors, scientists, intellectuals, politicians, writers, doctors, poets and others for assassination. The series of assignations in Bangladesh was started from 1969 whena Shams Duaa-Haa, professor of Chemistry in Rajshahi University, was assassinated in daylight. Let me explain what the Al-Badar and Al-Shams were and are? Al-Badar was and is militant wing of Jamait Islami and a paramilitary force formed in Bangladesh in 1971 by the Pakistan Army. However, the war between Pakistan and...

Gunmen in south-east Iran have killed two policemen and kidnapped four others, taking them to neighbouring Pakistan, Iranian officials say. The country's national police chief, Gen Ahmadi Moghaddam, blamed "bandits" for the attack, which occurred in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan. He gave no further details of the incident. Pakistani officials say they have no information on the kidnapping. Drug smugglers and militants are known to operate in the area. The Iranian government has repeatedly urged Pakistan to help improve security in the border area. Two weeks ago suspected militants killed 11 Iranian revolutionary guards in a bomb attack in...

TEHRAN, Feb. 14 — A car loaded with explosives blew up on Wednesday in front of a bus carrying members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the southeastern city of Zahedan, killing at least 11 people and wounding 34 others, the state news media reported. Skip to next paragraph The New York Times The governor of Zahedan, Hassan Ali Nouri, told state-run television that the car exploded at 6:37 a.m. as the bus taking members of the Revolutionary Guards to work approached. Television news reports showed videotape of the mangled bus, with all its windows shattered. One official told the ISNA...

February 15, 2007 -- A BUS carrying a dozen military officers is stopped in broad daylight by a group of police officers, who ask its civilian driver to disembark. Minutes later, a car bomb explodes nearby, shattering the bus and killing the passengers. Soon, a government spokesman appears on television to blame "terrorists" for an operation that has sent shivers throughout a major city. The spokesman reveals that the attackers' police uniforms had been stolen. No, this did not happen in Iraq. It happened yesterday in the city of Zahedan, capital of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan in...

Revolutionary Guards killed in bomb blast By Matthew Moore and agencies 14/02/2007 At least 11 people have been killed in an unprecedented bomb attack on a bus carrying Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. The blast happened in the southeast of the country, near the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan, where government troops often clash with drug smuggling gangs. A bomb hidden in a car was detonated as the bus taking soldiers from their housing compound in the city of Zahedan to a military base drew near. According to some reports armed motorcyclists shot at the bus to force it to stop,...

Tehran, 2 Feb. (AKI) - Jondallah, the main armed separatist group of Iranian Baluchistan, has claimed responsibility Friday for an attack the previous night in Zahedan, the capital of Iranian Baluchistan, which killed four security officials . "The commando of martyr Ahmad Dehmordeh wanted to remind the regime of the Islamic Republic, which is now celebration its birth (the 28th anniversary of the 1979 revolution) that it is not supported by the people of Baluchistan and it must not feel safe there," the group said in a statement delivered to Adnkronos International (AKI). Celebrations for the 28th anniversary of the...

Reports from Inside Iran Armed revolt by Bakhtiari, Lor and Ghashghai tribes against the Islamic Regime has reportedly flared up. Yesterday, freedom seeking tribal fighters in the Isfahan and surrounding provinces and region began fighting local Islamic Regime forces and freeing their villages and townships from the Islamic Regime's control. The Semirom area, which is on the Ghashghai tribal migrations route, apparently saw heavy fighting and more clashes occurred in between Isfahan Province and Yassooj further south, which is the center of the Boyer-Ahmadi tribal territory. Local fighters from the various tribes, confronted Islamic Regime paramilitary forces – the IRGC...

An al Qaeda operative at Fort Bragg By JOHN SULLIVAN and JOSEPH NEFF Raleigh News & Observer November 13, 2001 FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A former sergeant at Fort Bragg who became a close adviser to Osama bin Laden obtained sensitive documents describing how U.S. special operations units function. Ali A. Mohamed, a trusted trainer in bin Laden's al Qaeda network, walked the halls of the U.S. military's top warfare planning center at Fort Bragg for more than two years as an Army sergeant. From 1987 to 1989, he acquired sensitive documents describing how special operations units work and a...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani soldiers retrieved the body of a renegade tribal chief Thursday whose death in a military raid provoked widespread rioting in a restive province on the volatile border with Afghanistan. The body of Baluch tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti was found pinned underneath a boulder in his collapsed mountain hide-out in southwestern Baluchistan province. Pakistani forces and rebels clashed there Saturday, leaving the 79-year-old dead, along with several supporters and five army officers. Bugti's killing sparked five days of rioting and protests in the impoverished province bordering Iran and Afghanistan. At least six people were killed, dozens...

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) - Gunfire and rioting broke out for a fourth straight day Tuesday after the funeral service for a prominent tribal chief killed by Pakistani government forces. Two police were wounded and dozens of shops destroyed. More than 10,000 mourners attended the funeral of Nawab Akbar Bugti, who fought for decades for greater rights for the Baluch tribespeople. At least two people have been killed, dozens wounded and 500 arrested in rioting since his death Saturday. The service was held even though Pakistani authorities have not yet returned Bugti's body to his family. The government says it is...

QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) -Pakistan was on high alert after riots erupted over the killing of a prominent tribal rebel leader in gas-rich Baluchistan province in a major military operation. Extra police and security officers were deployed at key installations and a curfew imposed in provincial capital Quetta city after news broke of the killing, triggering the violence late Saturday that left one protester dead, officials told AFP Sunday. Pakistani forces launched air strikes Friday in the mountains of the province, where rebel chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti was hiding, in the major operation that left scores more dead, officials said. "I...

Ammar al-Baluchi, once considered a bit player, is alleged to have served as trainer and banker for several of the hijackers. Until recently, Ammar al-Baluchi was considered a peripheral player in Al Qaeda, a functionary who made travel arrangements and wired money for terrorists. But new government disclosures place Baluchi in a larger role in the Sept. 11 preparations and rank him No. 4 among the conspirators captured by U.S. forces after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Indeed, investigators say he was instrumental in acquiring a Boeing 747 flight simulator and a Boeing 767 flight-deck video for the hijackers to practice...

6 Anti-Terrorism Police Killed in Pakistan By NASEER KAKAR, Associated Press Writer Five bombs ripped through a firing range at a police training school in southwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing six members of an anti-terrorism unit and wounding nine, police and a doctor said. The attack was the deadliest in weeks in southwestern Baluchistan province, a vast region where renegade tribesmen are fighting for greater autonomy and an increase in royalties for resources extracted from their lands. The bombs, wired together to go off in sequence, were hidden around a firing range at the training academy in Quetta, the provincial...

DERA BUGTI, Pakistan — Explosions at gas pipelines and railroad tracks are common in this remote desert region. Now, roadside bombs and artillery shells are, too. More than 100 civilians have been killed in recent months, along with dozens of government security forces, local residents and Pakistan's Human Rights Commission say. This is the other front of Pakistan's widening civil unrest, not the tribal areas along the Afghan border where the United States would like the government to press a campaign against Islamic militants, but the restive province of Baluchistan, home to an intensifying insurgency. It is here, say local...

Tehran, 7 April (AKI) - The leader of the Iranian Sunni armed group Jund Allah, which is active in Baluchistan province, was killed together with another 11 militants in clashes with Iranian police, Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Friday. Abdel Malik Righi, the head of the armed group considered close to the al-Qaeda terrorist network and to the Taliban, reportedly died during an Iranian police operation along Iran's borders with Afghanistan, in the Sistan Baluchistan province. Iran's interior ministry denied the report. The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars also reported that the militants' leader had been killed, citing a foreign...

Stroking his long beard and flashing a smile, Mohammed Khwaja, a Taliban organiser in the lawless borderlands of Pakistan's tribal areas, contemplated the imminent arrival of British troops in Helmand province. "We thought that it would be between us and the US, but it looks like souls of the British buried in the Helmand after they were killed by the Afghan warriors in the 19th century may be feeling bored. By the early summer, 3,300 troops will be based in Helmand "Now they are calling their grandchildren to be reunited with them in hell," he said. By the early summer,...

Musharraf's "other war" against the Baluch, an ethnic minority of 4.5 million, has become increasingly bloody in recent weeks. According to U.S. intelligence sources, six Pakistani army brigades, plus paramilitary forces totaling some 25,000 men, are battling Baluch Liberation Army guerrillas in the Kohlu mountains and surrounding areas.

As a close U.S. ally in the war against terror, Pakistan has been designated a "major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally," allowing the Islamic Republic to join an elite group of nations, which are granted significant benefits in the area of foreign aid and defense co-operation. But when it comes to the U.S. war on Islamist Terror, this alliance, on close examination, does not translate into a  fruitful relationship. Terrorism in Afghanistan does not show any signs of going away, anti-American sentiments are on the rise in Pakistan, and religious extremism continues to gain new ground. Many tribal leaders from Peshawar in N.W.F.P.,...

Afghans will not be allowed to settle in certain Iranian provinces, while the police will be allowed to arrest any Afghan who tries to stay in these areas, said Ahmad Hosseini, who is with the country's bureau of aliens and foreign immigrants affairs (BAFIA). He also said that Afghans in Iran will be subject to local taxation after 6 July. Afghans will not be allowed to settle in parts of Sistan Baluchistan, as well as southern Khorasan. This is in addition to current restrictions that forbid Afghans settling in five other eastern provinces of Azerbaijan, Kordestan, Kermanshah, Ilam and Khuzestan....

TEHRAN: Iran banned Afghans from residing in the country’s eastern border provinces for unspecified security reasons, a senior Interior Ministry official announced on Saturday. Ahmad Hosseini, head of the ministry’s refugee’s office, who did not elaborate on the reason behind the ban, said the decision includes the border provinces of Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchistan, and that Afghans living in the area have to return to Afghanistan as soon as possible. There are about a million Afghan refuges living in Iran, Tehran expects half of them to leave the country before the end of this year. More than 1.3 million Afghan...

27 Killed in Pakistan Bombing March 19, 2005 QUETTA, Pakistan — A bomb exploded Saturday as minority Shiite Muslims congregated at a shrine in a remote town in southwestern Pakistan (search), killing at least 27 people and wounding 18, police said. Thousands of worshippers were at the shrine of a Shiite saint near the town of Naseerabad, about 210 miles south of Quetta (search) in restive Baluchistan province, when the bomb went off outside, said Mubarak Ali, a local police official. There was no immediate claim of responsibility and no indication the attack was linked to clashes between renegade tribesmen...

Islamic Militant Arrested in Pakistan March 05, 2005 QUETTA, Pakistan — An Islamic militant accused of killing as many as 130 minority Shiite Muslims (search) in separate attacks in recent years has been arrested in southwestern Pakistan, police said Friday. Ramzan Mengal, a member of an outlawed Sunni group linked to al-Qaida (search), was arrested in Quetta as he was going to a mosque for evening prayer, said Pervez Rafi Bhatti, the city's police chief. "This man was involved in all major attacks against Shiites in Quetta and elsewhere, and his arrest is a big success," Bhatti said.

QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) - At least 25 people have been killed after a dam burst and washed away a number of villages in southwestern Pakistan. Residents and media reports suggested many more may have died when the Shadi Kor dam near the coastal town of Pasni in poverty-stricken Baluchistan province burst late Thursday after a week of heavy rains. Troops have been called out for rescue operations and at least 25 people were confirmed dead, provincial minister Sher Jan told reporters in the provincial capital Quetta. Residents said dozens of people may have died. The road link to the...

Six blasts rock Baluchistan, soldier hurt: QUETTA, Feb 03:Baluchistan was rocked by six bomb and landmine blasts targeting key transport, communications and power facilities, causing widespread damage and blowing off a soldier's foot.Five of the explosions were in Baluchistan, which is in the throes of an intensifying rebellion by tribesmen demanding a bigger share of the region's natural resources.Two railway lines were ripped up in the attacks, including the main line between Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, and Zahidan in neighbouring Iran. The track was blown up at Mustung, a small town some 56 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of Quetta,...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 12 - Army troops have been sent to Pakistan's largest natural gas field, in southwestern Baluchistan, after attacks by Baluchi nationalists forced the authorities to close the plant, officials said Wednesday. Pakistan pledged tough action against the nationalists, who are demanding greater royalties for the gas extracted in their area. Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, the capital, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said "punitive action" would be taken if the tribesmen did not halt their attacks on "national assets." At least eight people have died and several have been wounded since Friday in clashes...

Reports of Riots/Uprising in Iran By Andrew L. Jaffee, December 6, 2003 Home   Search   Forum   Terms The were two reports of "rioting" and "uprising" out of the Iranian province of Baluchistan yesterday. The WorldNetDaily.com reported 30 dead and 80 wounded in the disturbances which they termed an "uprising," while the BBC reported 5 dead in a "riot." Baluchistan has distinct ethnic groups, mainly Baluch/Baloch and some Pathan/Pakhtuns, and is spread across Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. The region has a long and rich history. Baluchis make up 2% of Iran's population. The BBC gave little detail, saying only that "clashes broke out...

Mar. 6, 2003 Bush expected to announce progress in Bin Laden hunt (UPDATE) By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF According to Israel Radio, US President Bush is expected to announce significant progress in the hunt for arch-terrorist Osama Bin Laden. Media reports worldwide carried rumors that Bush was expected to announce Bin Laden's capture, but White House Spokesman, Ari Fleischer, was quoted as saying that President Bush was not going to announce that the terrorist had been captured. Bush is expected to give a speech from the White House at 03:00 Israel time. An intelligence official in Islamabad, Pakistan, said...

Saddam Hussein of Iraq hired mercenaries from Baluchistan for his war on terror against the US even before the 1991 Gulf War. Saddam’s Baluchi mercenaries have been very successful in attacking American targets and killing innocent American citizens in the 9/11, OKC and 1993 WTC Attacks. Khalid Mohammed and his nephew Ramzi Yousef were Saddam’s Baluchi mercenaries who attacked America for Saddam and Iraq. Middle East expert Lorie Mylroie has given eloquent proofs over the years of Saddam’s involvement in the 1993 WTC attack. The FBI and DOJ publicly say Khalid Mohammed was a mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks and...