A suicide car bombing followed by an armed assault killed at least two people and wounded dozens outside the police headquarters in the port city of Chabahar in southeastern Iran on Thursday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused “foreign-backed terrorists” of being behind the attacks and vowed to bring them to justice.
“Mark my words: Iran WILL bring terrorists and their masters to justice,” Zarif tweeted.
Chabahar lies in Sistan-Baluchistan province, which has long been a flashpoint, with Pakistan-based Baluchi separatists and Sunni Muslim extremists carrying out cross-border attacks targeting the Shiite authorities.
“This terrorist act led to the martyrdom of two members of the police force,” the province’s deputy governor in charge of security, Mohammad Hadi Marashi, told state television.
A total of 42 people were injured, most of whom were discharged from hospital by late afternoon, state television reported.
“The terrorists tried to enter Chabahar police headquarters but they were prevented by the guards and they detonated the car bomb,” Marashi said without elaborating on how many assailants took part.
The gunmen who attempted to storm the building were killed by security forces, Iranian media reported.
Chabahar city Governor Rahmdel Bameri said many shop owners and passers-by, including women and children, were seriously wounded.
“The explosion was very strong and broke the glass of many buildings close by,” he told state television.
Chabahar lies about 100 kilometers west of the Pakistan border and is home to a large, mainly Sunni Muslim ethnic Baluchi community that straddles the two countries.
– with reporting by Agence France-Presse
US+SAUDI+INDIA
US+SAUDI+INDIA