19 June 2017•Update: 19 June 2017
TEHRAN
Jalil Qanbar-Zahi, leader of Ansar al-Furqan, a Baloch militant organization dubbed a terrorist group by Iran authorities, has been killed on the Iran-Pakistan border, according to a Monday statement issued by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The statement, which was carried on Iranian state television, provided no additional information.
Established in 2013 by the union of two separate militant groups, Al-Ansar and Hizb al-Furqan, the group now known as Ansar al-Furqan is thought to be responsible for numerous attacks on security personnel in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province.
Tehran accuses Islamabad of failing to effectively reign in the group and prevent its fighters from crossing Pakistan’s border into Iranian territory.
*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara
