Suicide Bomb Blasts In Iran At Least 20 Dead

[JF-17_Thunder]

Report: 2 blasts kill at least 20 in southeast Iran​

By the CNN Wire Staff
July 15, 2010 4:47 p.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
-NEW: Zahedan legislator blames blasts on two extremist groups
-At least 20 are killed in double explosions in the Iranian city of Zahedan
-The blasts occurred in front of the city's Grand Mosque

(CNN) -- Two alleged suicide bombers were responsible for a pair of explosions in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan that left at least 20 dead and scores injured, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.

The first blast occurred at 9:20 p.m. in front of the city's Grand Mosque, and the second explosion followed within minutes, IRNA said.

The news agency reported that at least 20 people were killed and 100 were injured. Iran's state-run Arabic channel, Al-Alam, reported that at least 30 were killed and more than 50 injured.

"It is not yet possible to announce the exact number of those killed and injured in the incident," a police official said, according to IRNA. Zahedan is the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders Pakistan.

Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi labeled the incident a terrorist act, the semi-official Fars news agency said.

"Terrorist operations in Zahedan have left several dead and injured," Abdollahi said, according to Fars.

"More information will be given when our investigations are completed," he told Fars.

A lawmaker in Zahedan told IRNA that "the two explosions were the result of suicide bombings. First, someone in a woman's clothing tried to enter the Jam-e Mosque in Zahedan but was prevented from entering."

It was not immediately known whether that person was a man or a woman, said Hosseili Shariari, a Zahedan member of parliament.

Three or four people died in the first explosion, and while people were trying to help those victims, the second suicide bomber detonated his explosives, he told IRNA.

Shariari blamed the followers of two extremist groups, the Wahhabis, followers of an extremist Saudi Arabian sect, and the Rigi, followers of a man who was responsible for suicide bombings in the past.

"These explosions were quite predictable," Shariari said, according to Fars. "I have said many times at press conferences that the remaining agents of the Wahhabis and the Rigi group are determined to conduct this kind of operation to prove that they still exist."

Report: 2 blasts kill at least 20 in southeast Iran - CNN.com

 

[ای ایران]

A little background info on Jondollah:

Jundollah, Iran's Sunni Muslim rebels - Yahoo! News UK
44 mins ago

At least 21 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, were killed and 100 wounded in a suicide attack at a Shi'ite mosque in the southeast Iranian city of Zahedan on Thursday, Iranian media reported.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, although a lawmaker said he believed the Sunni rebel group Jundollah was behind the attack.

Here are some key details about Jundollah:

LINKS:

* Iran, which is predominantly Shi'ite, has linked Jundollah (God's Soldiers) to the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network. It also accuses the United States of backing Jundollah in order to create instability in the country. Washington denies the charge.

* Jundollah says it is fighting for the rights of Iran's minority Sunnis. Iran rejects allegations by rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and religious minorities.

ALLIANCES:

* Jundollah chief Abdolmalek Rigi said in a 2007 interview that his group was fighting for the rights of the Baluch people facing what he called "genocide" in Iran, but denied it harboured any separatist or radical sectarian agenda.

* Jundollah has evolved through shifting alliances with various parties, including the Taliban and Pakistan's ISI intelligence service, who saw the group as a tool against Iran, according to Lahore-based Pakistani analyst Ahmed Rashid.

ORIGINS:

* Jundollah, which also calls itself the Iranian People's Resistance Movement, was founded in 2002 and launched its armed campaign in 2005.

* Since early 2005 the group has sought to expand operations in Iran's south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. It has carried out kidnappings and, more recently, suicide attacks.

* The group probably numbers fewer than 100 militants armed with explosives and small arms in Sistan-Baluchestan which borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

* Leader Rigi vowed to fight the Shi'ite government in Iran unless economic conditions improve in the province.

* Abdolmalek Rigi was arrested in February this year. Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said Rigi had been in a U.S. military base 24 hours before his arrest, state-run Press TV reported.

* ATTACKS:

* In June 2005, Jundollah kidnapped Revolutionary Guard officer Shahab Mansuri and sent a video of him to al-Arabiya. He was killed on July 13 and Iran blamed Jundollah.

* On December 14, 2005, an assassination attempt was carried out against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while on a visit to Sistan-Baluchestan. This attack was also blamed on Jundollah.

* In 2007, Jundollah claimed responsibility for several attacks. On February 14, 11 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were killed in an attack on a bus in the city of Zahedan.

* In December 2008 there was a suicide attack in Saravan on a security forces headquarters. This was the first such suicide attack in Iran and was carried out by Abdul-Ghafoor Rigi, a brother of the group's leader.

* On May 28, 2009, a suicide bomber killed 25 people and wounded more than 120 in an attack on a mosque in Zahedan. Jundollah claimed responsibility for the attack.

* An October 18, 2009 bombing by the group killed 40 people. Fifteen Revolutionary Guards members were among those killed, including the deputy head of ground forces. Jundollah said it was behind the deadliest attack in Iran since the 1980s.

EXECUTIONS:

* On May 30 three men were hanged in public for involvement in the Zahedan bombing. Two more were hanged on June 2. Iran executed 15 more men accused of membership of Jundollah in July.

* On November 3, Iran executed Jundollah member Abdolhamid Rigi.

* The leaders's brother also called Abdolhamid was hanged in May.

Sources: Reuters/Janes World Insurgency and Terrorism

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

The article has a mistake, which is the name of Jondollah's previous leader, who's name was Abdolmalek, not Abdolhamed. Adbolhamed was his brother, and had a less senior position in Jondollah. But the rest of the info here sums up well the major points to note about Jondollah.

 

[JF-17_Thunder]

^^^They are Baloch?

 

[ای ایران]

^^^They are Baloch?

If you mean Jondollah, then yes. They are ethnic Baluchis, and are mainly Salafis by sect.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

obviously responsibility goes to Jundollah and those keeping this group ''propped up''






RIP to the dead.....

 

[Fasih Khan]

Horrible Acts of Terrorism Indeed ..... May Allah Kareem bless the Shuhdaa .... May Allah Almighty save the muslim world from this fitnah .... How bad is this that whole of our region Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq are targeted by the enimies of Islaam in the same manner. May Allah Kareem destroy their evil plans and grants peace & prosparity to the Islamic World. Ameen.

 

[pakomar]

my sympathies are with Iranian people who lost their loved ones.

 

[Martian]

Previously, only Afghanistan was in turmoil. However, since landing of foreign troops there, we can now see turmiol in neighbouring countries which are not fully friendly towards presence of foreign troops. See ethenic riots in Xinjiang, Pak Talibans in KP, nationalist insurgents in Baluchistan, and secretarian insurgents in Balochistan-Seistan.

Some people here would say that all these activities are not inter-related but I see otherwise.

 

[Ahmad]

Previously, only Afghanistan was in turmoil. However, since landing of foreign troops there, we can now see turmiol in neighbouring countries which are not fully friendly towards presence of foreign troops. See ethenic riots in Xinjiang, Pak Talibans in KP, nationalist insurgents in Baluchistan, and secretarian insurgents in Balochistan-Seistan.

Some people here would say that all these activities are not inter-related but I see otherwise.

I dont think it is a correct analysis. There have always been ethnic/religious issues in Xinyang of china. Pakistani taliban have been there for a long time, they used to kill afghans in collaboration with AT before they turned their guns to pakistan too. terrorism in balouchistan of iran was also there for a long time.

 

[mr42O]

After bombblast in Iran i am quit sure American are involved. How many american have these bastard killied in Pakistan or Iran ?

CIA and Mosad are fuly involved.

 

[Martian]

I dont think it is a correct analysis. There have always been ethnic/religious issues in Xinyang of china. Pakistani taliban have been there for a long time, they used to kill afghans in collaboration with AT before they turned their guns to pakistan too. terrorism in balouchistan of iran was also there for a long time.

No doubt issues were there even before American troops arrived but there is sharp increase in voilence since then. Americans are not angels at playing these games. Americans have allocated millions of dollars for activities in Iran and thse are not for popcorns.

Also the capacity of respective governments has been adversely affected due to foreign troops and instability in the neighborhood.

 

[Ahmad]

No doubt issues were there even before American troops arrived but there is sharp increase in voilence since then. Americans are not angels at playing these games. Americans have allocated millions of dollars for activities in Iran and thse are not for popcorns.

Also the capacity of respective governments has been adversely affected due to foreign troops and instability in the neighborhood.

I dont say americans are angels and dont do anything wrong. But lets take some responsibilty and dont blame them for everything, this is gona mislead us.

 

[mehru]

RIP to the dead.

 

[mehru]

I dont think it is a correct analysis. There have always been ethnic/religious issues in Xinyang of china. Pakistani taliban have been there for a long time, they used to kill afghans in collaboration with AT before they turned their guns to pakistan too. terrorism in balouchistan of iran was also there for a long time.

Agreed. This is a misconception in our country that everything happened because of American invasion. Truth is that they were already there however American presence definitely triggered the turbulent situation.

 

[mehru]

Death toll rises to 26 in Iran twin attacks, Jundullah claims

The death toll rises to 27 including elite Revolutionary Guards, in two suicide bomb attacks at a prominent Shi'ite Muslim mosque in the southeast Iranian city of Zahedan Thursday, Press TV reported on website.

100 wounded in the attacks, according to Al Arabiya news report.

The two explosions that took place in front of the mosque on also ripped through nearby shops.
The first explosion occurred at 9:20 p.m. local time (1650 GMT) and was followed by a second blast within minutes, local officials said Thursday.
The Sunni Muslim rebel group Jundollah said it was behind the attacks, telling Al Arabiya television in an e-mail that it had carried them out in retaliation for Iran's execution in June of the group's leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.
Rigi was hanged after being convicted of carrying out other deadly attacks. Jundollah says it is fighting for the rights of Iran's Baluchi Muslim minority.
The suicide bombings took place near Zahedan's Grand Mosque, and Jundollah said they were carried out by relatives of Rigi and were aimed at a Revolutionary Guards gathering, according to Reuters.

Suicide attacks were carried out by Abdolbaset Rigi and Mohammad Rigi ... and warned of more operations to come," Al Arabiya said.

"In the two explosions in Zahedan more than 20 people were killed and over 100 were injured," Fariborz Rashedi, head of the emergency unit at Sistan-Baluchestan province, told the official IRNA news agency.
It later quoted Zahedan prosecutor Mohammad Marzieh as saying that 21 people had died.

Iran's deputy Interior Minister in charge of security, Ali Abdollahi, said "a number of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed and injured," Fars reported. IRNA said the second attack was so strong that "body parts were scattered around the Grand Mosque."

'U.S. Involved'

Predominantly Shi'ite Muslim Iran arrested Rigi in February, four months after Jundollah claimed responsibility for a bombing which killed dozens of people, including 15 members of the Guards. It was the deadliest attack in Iran since the 1980s.
Zahedan is the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province which shares a border with Pakistan. The province faces serious security problems and there are frequent clashes between police and drug dealers and bandits.
In past, Iran has accused Pakistan, Britain and the United States of backing Jundollah to create instability in southeast Iran.
All three countries have denied this, and Jundollah denies having any links with al Qaeda which Iran claims.

"Confessions of Abdolmalek Rigi prove that America, Israel and some European countries are directly involved in the attacks," said Guards official Yadollah Javadi, Fars reported.
"The enemies of our country try to create conflicts between Shi'ites and Sunnis."

Iran is grappling with ethnic and religious tension in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, where authorities have responded to attacks by Baluchi rebels with a spate of hangings. Rights groups and the West have condemned the hangings.

Iran rejects allegations by rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and religious minorities.
Death toll rises to 26 in Iran twin attacks, Jundullah claims / PHOTO [ WORLD BULLETIN- TURKEY NEWS, WORLD NEWS ]