1 Killed, 5 Wounded in Attack on Basij Base in Southeast Iran

Members of the Basij force march during a military parade in Tehran November 25, 2011. (Reuters)
Members of the Basij force march during a military parade in Tehran November 25, 2011. (Reuters)
TT

1 Killed, 5 Wounded in Attack on Basij Base in Southeast Iran

Members of the Basij force march during a military parade in Tehran November 25, 2011. (Reuters)
Members of the Basij force march during a military parade in Tehran November 25, 2011. (Reuters)

One person was killed and five wounded in an attack on a Basij paramilitary base in the southeastern town of Nik Shahr, reported Iranian state television on Saturday.

“A (paramilitary) Basij base in Nik Shahr came under ... fire this morning and several from the Revolutionary Guards communications personnel who were wiring the base were hit,” Mohammad Hadi Marashi, provincial deputy governor for security affairs, told the state news agency IRNA.

Authorities did not provide details about the nature of the assault.

The semi-official news agency Tasnim said the Jaish al-Adl militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack happened during the morning flag raising at the base, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Nik Shahr is located in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

On Tuesday, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for two bombings last week that wounded three police officers in front of a police station in the city of Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchestan.

In December, a suicide car bomber struck a police headquarters in the port city of Chabahar, killing at least two police and wounding 42 others.

Iran began on Friday ten days of state-sponsored celebrations marking the 1979 Revolution which deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.



32 Killed in New Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
TT

32 Killed in New Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN

At least 32 people were killed and 47 wounded in sectarian clashes in northwest Pakistan, an official told AFP on Saturday, two days after attacks on Shiite passenger convoys killed 43.

Sporadic fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan has killed around 150 over the past months.

"Fighting between Shiite and Sunni communities continues at multiple locations. According to the latest reports, 32 people have been killed which include 14 Sunnis and 18 Shiites," a senior administrative official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

On Thursday, gunmen opened fire on two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims travelling with police escort in Kurram, killing 43 while 11 wounded are still in "critical condition", officials told AFP.

In retaliation Shiite Muslims on Friday evening attacked several Sunni locations in the Kurram district, once a semi-autonomous region, where sectarian violence has resulted in the deaths of hundreds over the years.

"Around 7 pm (1400 GMT), a group of enraged Shiite individuals attacked the Sunni-dominated Bagan Bazaar," a senior police officer stationed in Kurram told AFP.

"After firing, they set the entire market ablaze and entered nearby homes, pouring petrol and setting them on fire. Initial reports suggest over 300 shops and more than 100 houses have been burned," he said.

Local Sunnis "also fired back at the attackers", he added.

Javedullah Mehsud, a senior official in Kurram said there were "efforts to restore peace ... (through) the deployment of security forces" and with the help of "local elders".

After Thursday's attacks that killed 43, including seven women and three children, thousands of Shiite Muslims took to the streets in various cities of Pakistan on Friday.

Several hundred people demonstrated in Lahore, Pakistan's second city and Karachi, the country's commercial hub.

In Parachinar, the main town of Kurram district, thousands participated in a sit-in, while hundreds attended the funerals of the victims, mainly Shiite civilians.