Word: jundullah
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Sunday's suicide terrorism attack that killed at least five commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps could have an impact far beyond the Islamic Republic's restive southeast border with Pakistan. Although the attack was orchestrated by the Sunni extremist group Jundullah - a separatist organization based among the Baluchi ethnic group that spans the Iran-Pakistan border and has for years conducted low-key terrorism strikes - many in Tehran blamed the bombing on a covert campaign by Western intelligence agencies to destabilize Iran. And that could cast a shadow over President Barack Obama's delicately poised effort to engage...
...ally Britain" and vowed revenge. The speaker of Iran's parliament, Ali Larijani, blamed the attack on "U.S. action" and "America's animosity against our country." The State Department repudiated any suggestion of U.S. involvement and condemned the attack. But focusing on the allegation of Western support for Jundullah may be a sign that hard-liners in Iran intend to use the attack for their own purposes, justifying a crackdown on internal opposition and possibly striking a more hostile pose in dealing with the U.S. as nuclear negotiations get under way. (See pictures of Iran's presidential election...
...Sunday's strike appeared to have been aimed, in keeping with Jundullah's agenda, at escalating hostilities between the government in Tehran, dominated by Shi'ite Persians, and the Baluchi minority. The attack involved a suicide bomber entering a mosque in the city of Pisheen during a meeting between local Sunni and Shi'ite leaders that was organized by the Revolutionary Guards to improve dialogue between the two communities. A second bomber struck a vehicle containing several Guards officers. The dead included the lieutenant commander of the Guards' ground forces in all of Iran as well as the Guards commander...
...issues." The Pakistani security establishment is wary of Tehran's relationship with India, and it suspects Iran of allowing its territory to be used by Indian-backed Baluch separatist fighters in southwestern Pakistan. Tehran, for its part, has repeatedly complained to Islamabad about cross-border attacks mounted by Jundullah, a shadowy Baluch militant group that uses Pakistani Baluchistan as a staging ground for attacks inside Iran. On May 28, the group claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed at least 20 in the border town of Zahedan. Iran and Pakistan have also been at loggerheads over Afghanistan - Tehran has backed...
...Jundullah isn't the only case cited by those who accuse the U.S. of backing Iranian extremist groups. After the U.S. occupied Iraq in 2003, the U.S. military ostensibly disarmed the Saddam-backed Iranian militant group the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) - then, as now, on the State Department's terror list - allowing it to remain in its base in Iraq, but deployed American soldiers to protect the base. The group claimed that it helped the U.S. government gather intelligence from inside Iran. Washington hawks such as House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Representative Bob Filner (D.-Calif.) continue to call...