| 2018 Chabahar suicide bombing | |
|---|---|
The remains of the suicide car
| |
| Location | Chabahar, Sistan-Baluchestan, Iran |
| Date | 7 December 2018 (UTC+3½) |
| Target | Police headquarters[1] |
Attack type | Suicide bombing |
| Deaths | 2 (+1 attacker)[2] |
| Injured | 48 |
| Perpetrators | Ansar Al-Furqan |
Asuicide car bombing occurred on 6 December 2018 near a police station in Chabahar city, Sistan and Baluchestan Province.[1] The attack left at least two policemen killed and 48 others injured,[3][4] among them women and children.[5]
Iranian media has accused the Ansar Al-Furqan group[6] a Sunni jihadi group, of being behind the incident. Ansar Al-Furqan took responsibility for the attack.[3] Suicide bombings are rare in Iran.[3][7]
A suicide bomber drove a pickup truck loaded with explosives towards a Law Enforcement Police's station in Chabahar city. Police officers blocked the vehicle and started shooting at the driver, who then blew the car up near the station.[3] According to France 24, as soon as the car bomb was detonated, gunmen tried assaulting the Police Headquarters, but they were killed by Iranian security forces.[8]
At least two policemen killed and 48 others injured as a result of the bombing.[3][4] The injured people, among them women and children,[5] consisted of 10 military personnel and 32 civilian, 28 of whom were immediately discharged from the hospital after outpatient treatment and 8 others underwent surgery.[9]
According to the police chief Hossein Ashtari, 10 people, suspected of having links to the bombing incident are detained and more cases are identified and being prosecuted.[10]
Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, accused a foreign power of involvement and did not name a specific country.『Foreign-backed terrorists kill and wound innocents in Chabahar. As we've made clear in the past, such crimes won’t go unpunished,』Zarif said on Twitter.[7] Indian Foreign Minister described the attack as "despicable terrorist attack" and asked for bringing the perpetrators to the justice.[7] Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesman Mohammad Faisal condemned the attack in a Twitter message.[11]
According to the Tasnim News Agency, the aim of the attack was to destabilize the area prior to the meeting of the committee pursuing the Chabahar Agreement.[9][12]
