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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| IRGC Baluch commander assassinated in southeast Iran |
| 2026-11-08 |
| [Rudaw] Unidentified button men on Saturday assassinated a Sunni Baloch holy man who commanded a local unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, an affiliated agency with the Guards reported, adding that a dissident group may have been behind the killing. Tasnim News Agency reported on Saturday that Mohammad Yusef Qazi was rubbed out by unidentified button men while travelling in his private vehicle. Fanuj County police commander Hossein Ahmadzadeh suggested that members of anti-government gangs may have been responsible for the attack. Ahmadzadeh told the agency that Mohammad Yusef Qazi was "head of the Qazi tribe, commander of the Mohtaramabad combat unit base and a trusted and peace-loving figure in the region." The liquidation comes as Sistan and Baluchestan, populated mainly by Iran's ethnic Baloch and Sunni Moslem communities, has long faced deep-rooted security challenges, with Iranian security forces confronting Baloch gangs and those they deem a threat to state security. Haalvsh, a human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... group that monitors the Baluch community, also reported the killing, identifying the holy man and IRGC commander as Shams al-Haq (Yusef) Qazi. The group described him as a "prominent holy man with close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and government institutions, saying he had promoted the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s policies in the region, particularly in Khash and Fanuj counties." The watchdog said his political and religious positions aligned with those of the government and the IRGC, and that he had played a role in implementing government policies in local communities. The province has witnessed similar incidents in recent weeks. The People’s Fighters Front, a Baloch gang, grabbed credit for three attacks over two days that killed at least 11 IRGC personnel and members of Iran-backed militias. So far, no groups have grabbed credit for the Saturday attack and investigations by Iran’s police personnel are ongoing. In mid-September, Molavi Yusef Gorgij, another Sunni holy man closely linked to Iran's security establishment, was rubbed out in Sistan-Baluchestan province. Haalvsh noted that Gorgij was widely regarded in the province as "someone close to government and security institutions," and that "his activities and positions were largely oriented toward supporting Islamic Theocratic Republicpolicies," including against anti-government protesters and critics from Baloch and Sunni communities. Iranian authorities frequently accuse armed Baluch groups of carrying out attacks and festivities in the province, alleging that they receive training and support from the United States and Israel. Related: Sistan-Baluchestan: 2026-11-03 IRGC personnel, Iran-backed militias killed in separate attacks in southeast Iran: Watchdog Sistan-Baluchestan: 2026-10-25 IRGC claims strike on key gathering center of Iranian Kurdish armed group (PJAK) Sistan-Baluchestan: 2026-10-23 Iran deploys heavy weaponry to Kurdish border areas amid rising war fears |
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