Iran security forces kill 10 militants after roadside murders
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian security forces have killed 10 suspected hardline Sunni militants following the roadside murders of a dozen civilians in the restive southeast of the country.
Late Saturday's execution-style murders, on a main road between the cities of Bam and Kerman, were claimed by a shadowy group called Jundullah ('Army of God'). The group is believed to be based across the border in
Afghanistan.
"At least 10 members of those who were responsible for the senseless killing of our citizens on the Bam-Kerman road were killed by local forces,"
Iran's national police chief, Esmaeel Ahmadi-Moghadam, was quoted as saying.
He said the fugitives were trying to flee eastwards and leave Iran, "but we closed off all of their escape routes," adding that police, members of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia were hunting the group.
Official media said the victims of the fugitives were shot in cold blood on Saturday evening on the side of a highway near Bam -- just over 200 kilometres (130 miles) west of where the borders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet.
The crime has shocked Iran -- which generally enjoys good internal security -- with state television showing the corpses of the victims tied up and dumped in a trench.
Only a young boy was spared, but he was reported to be severely traumatised after being tied to a post and forced to watch the shootings.
Jundallah, headed by a figure called by Abdolmalek Rigi, has claimed responsibility or been blamed for a string of armed incidents in Iran's Sistan-Baluschestan province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Sunnis form the majority in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan, although Shiite Islam is Iran's official religion.
Southeastern Iran is also a major thoroughfare for narcotics smuggled from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Europe and the Middle East.
Iranian officials have also accused Britain and the United States of supporting ethnic minority rebels operating within the Islamic republic's sensitive border areas, amid a worsening stand-off over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Late Saturday's execution-style murders, on a main road between the cities of Bam and Kerman, were claimed by a shadowy group called Jundullah ('Army of God'). The group is believed to be based across the border in
Afghanistan.
"At least 10 members of those who were responsible for the senseless killing of our citizens on the Bam-Kerman road were killed by local forces,"
Iran's national police chief, Esmaeel Ahmadi-Moghadam, was quoted as saying.
He said the fugitives were trying to flee eastwards and leave Iran, "but we closed off all of their escape routes," adding that police, members of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia were hunting the group.
Official media said the victims of the fugitives were shot in cold blood on Saturday evening on the side of a highway near Bam -- just over 200 kilometres (130 miles) west of where the borders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet.
The crime has shocked Iran -- which generally enjoys good internal security -- with state television showing the corpses of the victims tied up and dumped in a trench.
Only a young boy was spared, but he was reported to be severely traumatised after being tied to a post and forced to watch the shootings.
Jundallah, headed by a figure called by Abdolmalek Rigi, has claimed responsibility or been blamed for a string of armed incidents in Iran's Sistan-Baluschestan province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Sunnis form the majority in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan, although Shiite Islam is Iran's official religion.
Southeastern Iran is also a major thoroughfare for narcotics smuggled from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Europe and the Middle East.
Iranian officials have also accused Britain and the United States of supporting ethnic minority rebels operating within the Islamic republic's sensitive border areas, amid a worsening stand-off over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
posted by Marko at 5/15/2006 08:16:00 AM
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