Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Wednesday that its forces killed at least 13 militants during a series of coordinated operations in the restive Sistan and Baluchestan province, a region long plagued by cross-border militancy and instability.
According to a statement issued by the IRGC Ground Forces’ Quds Base, its units working in close coordination with the Ministry of Intelligence launched three joint operations early in the morning in Iranshahr, Khash, and Saravan. The statement said Iranian forces clashed with armed elements described as members of “terrorist groups,” resulting in 13 fatalities.
The IRGC did not specify the identity of the groups targeted, nor did it provide details on whether Iranian forces sustained casualties during the engagements. However, the operations come amid heightened security activity in the border province, which shares porous frontiers with both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Sistan and Baluchestan has for years been a flashpoint of violence, with Iranian forces frequently confronting separatist and militant outfits, including the group Jaish al-Adl, which Tehran accuses of carrying out ambushes, bombings, and cross-border attacks against security personnel. Smuggling networks and armed factions have further complicated security in the volatile region.
The IRGC statement described the morning’s raids as part of a broader effort to “strengthen security and stability” in Sistan and Baluchestan and to disrupt militant networks operating near Iran’s southeastern frontier. Officials vowed that counterterrorism operations would continue until the region was fully cleared of hostile groups.
The clashes underscore Tehran’s ongoing struggle to contain unrest in Sistan and Baluchestan, where ethnic and sectarian tensions have historically fuelled violence, and where border security remains a major challenge for Iran’s armed forces.
