Iran’s police chief Brigadier General Ahmadreza Radan says Iranian security forces have managed to identify and arrest the four chief elements wanted for a vicious terrorist assault on Rask County’s police headquarters in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Radan stated that the terrorists were ambushed and captured during an operation carried out by counter-terrorism police units over the past few days.
The Iranian police chief noted that their detention delivered a stinging blow to the Pakistan-based so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, as they mistakenly believed they were not on the watch.
Radan went on to say that a number of firearms and devices intended for terror attacks were recovered from the detainees, emphasizing that a detailed investigation into the matter is underway and the results will be publicized once it concludes.
He also said Iranian police forces have received critical information about other elements involved in the deadly terrorist attack.
Alireza Marhamati, deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan Province in security and political affairs, said 11 police forces, including officers and conscripts, were killed in the attack against the headquarters of Rask Police on December 15 last year.
Majid Mirahmadi, deputy interior minister for security and police affairs, said at the time that the terrorists attacked the police post from several directions and later ambushed reinforcements deployed to the location.
He said two of the terrorists were killed and one of them was injured and arrested in hours-long clashes, while the rest escaped.
Six police forces were injured during the exchange of fire, he said.
The attack, which occurred around midnight, was one of the deadliest in years for the region sitting close to Iran’s border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Similar attacks have occurred previously, including on July 23 when four policemen were killed while on patrol.
That came two weeks after two policemen and four assailants were killed in a shootout in the province, claimed by Jaish al-Adl.
