‘Soldiers of Allah’ attack Iran

Kamna Arora

On October 18, a suicide bomber in Iran killed five senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard and at least 37 others. Hours later, the Iranian government blamed ‘foreign elements’ for the heinous attack in the Pishin district near the Pakistan border, which injured scores of others too.

While Pakistan’s Balochistan-based Jundullah claimed the responsibility for the attack in the deprived south-eastern region of Sistan-Balochistan, Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari revealed that Iran had documents, which pointed towards direct ties between Jundullah and American, British, and Pakistani spy agencies.

"Behind this scene are the American and British intelligence apparatus, and there will have to be retaliatory measures to punish them," the ISNA news agency quoted Jafari as saying.

What is Jundullah?
Iran’s Jundullah, Army of Allah or Soldiers of Allah, is not a part of the ‘Jundullah phenomenon’, which became popular during the jihad initiated by the Muslims of Bosnia and Kosovo against the Serbs in the 1990s.

This ethnic Baloch insurgent group reportedly came into being in 2002 with an aim to protect the Balochi minority in the lawless region of southeast Iran. Notably, the group operates freely across the porous borders between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This is not the first time the group has carried out an attack in Iran. In May, anti-Shi’ite Jundullah was held responsible for a bomb blast in a mosque in the Iranian town of Zahedan, which killed 25 worshippers and injured over 100.

However, the recent blast is said to be the deadliest in years as it killed the deputy head of the Guards ground forces.

What does Jundullah want?
The leader of Jundullah, Abdolmalek Rigi, seeks equal rights for Sunnis and ethnic Balochis in Iran. It is to be noted that he has never demanded separate territory, hence making Jundullah as a Sunni extremist organisation rather than a Baloch nationalist one.

In an interview last year, he said that he just wanted the Iranian administration to show consideration for the human rights, faith and culture of the Balochis.

This makes Jundullah operating in Iran quite different in ideology from Baloch rebels fighting in Pakistan for independence or autonomy for Balochistan.

The Jundullah ideology
Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 not only changed the scenario within the country but also shocked the entire international community. The global community was busy in gauging the influence of Iran when Pakistan's then dictator Zia ul-Haq decided to endorse anti-Shi'ite militant groups and hardline Sunni madrasas to suppress the ‘Shi’ite influence’ spread by the revolution.

ZEENEWS.com