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Iran Hangs Three Baluch Men over 2019 'Terrorist Attacks'

A photo published by Mizan agency of the unrest in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Baluchistan province, on July 8.
A photo published by Mizan agency of the unrest in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Baluchistan province, on July 8.
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Iran Hangs Three Baluch Men over 2019 'Terrorist Attacks'

A photo published by Mizan agency of the unrest in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Baluchistan province, on July 8.
A photo published by Mizan agency of the unrest in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Baluchistan province, on July 8.

Iran hanged on Monday three men who were convicted of carrying out “terrorist activities” in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, the judiciary said.

According to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency, the three Baluch men are Mohammad Barahouyi Anjomani, Mohammad Karim Barkazayi Akson and Edris Bilrani who were sentenced to death on charges of corruption and participating in terrorist acts.

They were also found guilty of being part of the Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) group, which was formed in 2012 and is blacklisted by Iran as a “terrorist” organization, according to Mizan.

The Army of Justice group says it is a “resistance movement” fighting for the ethnic rights of the Baluch.

The three men were sentenced to death after they were found guilty of bombing attacks targeting a police station and a patrol vehicle in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, in 2019.

Also, bomb-making tools were confiscated in one of the convicts’ houses during a search, AFP reported.

The chief justice of Sistan and Baluchestan province Ali Mostafavinia said the provincial amnesty committee opposed a proposal to pardon the three convicts.

In September, gunmen carried out an attack in the province killing two policemen.

On Monday, Iran's official IRNA news agency said a conscript was killed and two others injured in a confrontation with an armed group near the border with Pakistan.

Bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, the province of Sistan and Baluchestan is the scene of frequent clashes between police on the one hand, and drug traffickers and opposition Baluch groups on the other.

More than 600 people have been executed by Iran so far this year, already the highest figure in eight years, said the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group in a November report.

“The international community must react to more than 600 executions in 10 months — that's two state murders a day,” said IHR Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

The IHR's tally of 604 executions so far this year is already higher than the 582 recorded in 2022, and the most since 2015 when it registered 972 executions.

Activists have expressed dismay over the surge in drug-related executions after previously falling due to amendments in Iran's criminal code.

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World

French Police Suspect Train Derailment Was Sabotage

SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
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French Police Suspect Train Derailment Was Sabotage

SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)
SNCF workers stand next to a derailed train carriage in Cléon, northwestern France, on September 12, 2026, the morning after the train derailed. (Photo by Guillaume SALIGOT / AFP)

Investigators suspect that a train derailment in northwest France which injured 44, one gravely, was the result of sabotage, a police source told AFP on Saturday.

A fragment of rail was found on the track, with the possibility of a malicious act being treated as the main line of inquiry as a result, the source said.

Carrying 186 passengers, the train was running between the Normandy cities of Rouen and Caen when it derailed around 7:45 pm (1745 GMT) Friday.

Authorities activated a mass-casualty response plan, with 130 firefighters, five medical teams and 80 vehicles drafted in.

Rouen prosecutor Sebastien Gallois said 44 people were injured including an 18-year-old woman evacuated "in a critical condition", while tests for drugs and alcohol on the train driver had come back negative.

SNCF Reseau, which controls the French rail network, told AFP that traffic on the line has been suspended and power to the tracks cut to allow emergency services to operate.

World

Police: Explosions, Fire at Bulgarian Munitions Site

Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
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Police: Explosions, Fire at Bulgarian Munitions Site

Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS
Fire and smoke rise near an ammunition warehouse, near the village of Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria, September 12, 2026. Stringer/via REUTERS

An explosion and fires have hit an ammunition storage site in central Bulgaria, police said Saturday, weeks after a blaze at another munitions facility in the country.

The latest incident happened late Friday at the warehouse operated by Bulgarian arms maker EMCO, whose munitions are used in Ukraine, near the central village of Gorni Varpishta.

No casualties were reported, and the extent of damage was not immediately clear.

"At present there is no danger to the population," local police said in a statement, adding that employees had been evacuated and the area cordoned off.

The nearest village is more than one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the site, AFP reported.

The incident came about a month after a fire at an ammunition depot at another nearby EMCO plant in Bulgaria, a NATO member and supporter of Ukraine.

EMCO ruled out human error in that case, and prosecutors are investigating.

EMCO is owned by Bulgarian defense executive Emilian Gebrev, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2015 together with his son and another company executive.

Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Russian nationals over the poisoning.

Separately, six Russians have also been charged with terrorism over four explosions at arms facilities in the country between 2011 and 2020.

Prosecutors said the four blasts were remotely triggered and suspected the incidents were linked to efforts to disrupt arms supplies to Georgia and Ukraine.

Bulgaria has supported Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

There have been a string of incidents at defense companies in European countries that support Ukraine in recent weeks.

Firebombs were thrown near defense company offices in the German city of Munich earlier this month and an ammunition factory near Rome operated by arms maker KNDS was hit by a blast in August.

No injuries were reported in either case.

World

US Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike that Killed 3 Troops

Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
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US Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike that Killed 3 Troops

Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)
Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)

Before Iran carried out its attack that killed three US troops in July, Tehran acquired high-resolution satellite images of the base in Jordan from Chinese entities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing US officials familiar with details of the incident.

It is the clearest evidence so far that Chinese support for Iran during the war has had lethal consequences for US forces, according to the officials, who say the US has connected the imagery to the attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in northeastern Jordan.

The officials did not identify the Chinese entities that supplied the imagery and stopped short of accusing the Chinese government of directly assisting the attack.

Last July, Iranian ballistic missiles struck a housing area where US troops were sleeping, killing three soldiers and wounding four others. The attack was one of three missile strikes against the base within 24 hours and marked the first US deaths since an April ceasefire.

US officials also told the Journal that Iran targeted manned and unmanned aircraft stationed at the base.

Senior US officials raised the satellite imagery linked to the July 17 attack directly with Chinese counterparts, according to the Journal, but Beijing rejected the allegations and demanded evidence.

Chinese officials have repeatedly dismissed Washington's concerns and refused to acknowledge that Chinese companies were engaged in such activity, the report said.

The findings could add friction to US-China relations ahead of a planned Sept. 24 summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to the Journal report, Iranian access to high-resolution imagery was particularly significant because US strikes earlier in the war had damaged Iranian radar, satellites and other surveillance equipment, limiting Tehran’s ability to monitor US military positions.

Caption: Jordanian air defenses intercept missiles launched from Iran, September 9, 2026 (EPA)