Iran strikes militant group Jaish al-Adl bases in Pakistan

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is Sistan – Baluchestan region?
• What is Jaish al-Adl?
• News Summary: Iran strikes militant group Jaish al-Adl bases in Pakistan
• India’s stand on Iran's missile strikes in Pakistan
• India's position on terrorism

Why in news?

• Recently, Iran bombed two bases of militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan’s Balochistan province with missiles and drones.
  • Iran has not yet specified the reason behind the attack.
• This attack killed two children and injured three others. As a result, Pakistan has recalled its ambassador and expelled the Iranian envoy.

Sistan-Baluchestan

• About
  • Iran’s Baluch minority numbers between one and four million people, based mainly in the southeastern region of Sistan-Baluchestan.
  • The region is poor and underdeveloped.
  • Made up of rugged, mountainous terrain, it has become a haven for heroin and opium-smuggling from across the border with neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.
  • 
• Demography
  • The Baluchs who live there are mostly Sunni Muslims and identify themselves as part of an ancient tradition separate from that of Iran’s Persian ethnicity.
    • The majority of Iran’s population are Shia.
  • They identify themselves closely with the Baluch populations across the border in Pakistan.

Jaish al-Adl

• About
  • Jaish al-Adl, literally the “Army of Justice”, are a Sunni Salafist militant group with bases in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
  • These militants are active in the mountainous border regions of Pakistan and Iran.
  • It was founded in 2012, and Iranian officials believe it largely operates in Pakistan.
• Group is fighting for
  • Militants of this group assert that they are fighting to gain independence for the Sistan and Baluchestan province, also known as Asli Balouchestan.
  • This province is located in the southeast of Iran, sharing borders with Pakistan's Balochistan province and the Indian Ocean.
• Past attacks
  • The group has allegedly been involved in a series of violent attacks in Iran, and has claimed bombings and kidnapped members of Iran’s border police.
  • In December, suspected Jaish al-Adl members killed 11 people and wounded eight others in a night time attack on a police station in southeastern Iran.
  • In 2019, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing targeting a bus that killed 27 members of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
  • Iran has suspected that Sunni-majority Pakistan is hosting insurgents, possibly at the behest of its regional archrival Saudi Arabia.

News Summary: Iran strikes militant group Jaish al-Adl bases in Pakistan

• As per media reports, the attack took place near Panjgur in southwest Balochistan.
  • Earlier, Iran said that two bases belonging to Jaish al-Adl militants in Balochistan province were destroyed.
  • This development is significant as it comes amid an escalating Middle East crisis led by the war in Gaza.
    • Iran’s attack on Pakistan came less than a day after Iranian strikes on northern Iraq that killed several civilians.
    • Iraq recalled its ambassador from Tehran for consultations and summoned Iran’s ambassador in Baghdad in protest.
    • Iran separately struck Syria as well.

India’s stand on Iran's missile strikes in Pakistan

• Zero tolerance towards terrorism
  • This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan.
  • However, as far as India is concerned, it follows an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism.
  • India supports actions that countries take in their self-defence.
• India silent on Iran’s strikes against Kurdish areas in Iraq, as well as in Syria
  • Significantly, the MEA did not comment on Iran’s strikes against Kurdish areas in Iraq, as well as in Syria, all of which took place recently.

India's position on terrorism 

• Zero tolerance: India has an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism.
• Self-defence: India understands actions that countries take in their self-defence. India recognizes the right of self-defence of legitimate national liberation movements.
• Non-state actors: India supports the use of force against non-state actors, but opposes the use of force against a state to counter-terrorism.
• Labelling: India opposes labelling terrorism based on the motivation behind such acts.
• Cooperation: India believes in the development of cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Q1) What is Middle East region?

The Middle East is a region that includes the Arabian Peninsula and sometimes Iran and North Africa. 

Q2) Who are Baluchs?

The Baloch or Baluch are a nomadic, pastoral, ethnic group which speaks Western Iranic Baloch language and is native to the Balochistan region of South and Western Asia, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Source: As Iran strikes militant group Jaish al-Adl bases in Pakistan, a look at who they are, their past attacks | Aljazeera | The Hindu