Heavy exchanges of fire involving Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces broke out on Tuesday morning in the Chah-Ahmad area of Taftan County, in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, according to reports from local sources and the Baloch rights group Haalvsh.
The fighting reportedly began at around 6 a.m. local time and spread across the mountainous Chah-Ahmad zone, including the Lop and Arzantak mountains. According to the reports, the IRGC dispatched reinforcements to the area, and light, medium, and heavy weapons were used in the clashes.
Later reports said dozens of people were wounded. There were no independently verified casualty figures as of this writing, and Iranian authorities had not commented on the incident. It was not immediately clear who the IRGC forces were fighting.
Chah-Ahmad is a small rural village in the Nazil District of Taftan County, near Iran’s border with Pakistan. The county has been the site of previous deadly attacks on Iranian security forces. In October 2024, 10 police officers were killed in an attack on the Gohar Kuh road in Taftan County, for which the Sunni Baluch militant group Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility.
Tuesday’s fighting is the latest in a series of escalating confrontations in the province. The Human Rights Activists News Agency documented at least 63 armed incidents between March 31 and October 10, mostly in Sistan and Baluchestan, with 94 people killed. The group said the violence has intensified in recent weeks, moving from targeted shootings to roadside bombings and coordinated ambushes.
The People’s Fighters Front, an alliance of Baluch armed groups that includes Jaish al-Adl, has claimed responsibility for several of those attacks. Iranian authorities describe the groups as terrorist organizations and have carried out repeated raids against them.
Last month, Brigadier General Hossein Zarifi, commander of the IRGC’s Shahid Sajjad Operational Base in Saravan, was killed in clashes with gunmen in the Saravan area, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. Following that battle, the IRGC accused the United States and Israel of seeking to strengthen armed groups in southeastern Iran.
On October 1, Haalvsh reported heavy gunfire and rocket-propelled grenade fire in the provincial capital of Zahedan, hours after an attack on a security checkpoint killed an officer.
Casualty figures from Iranian officials, rights groups, and local sources often differ significantly, and information from the remote region is difficult to verify quickly. Iranian state media typically present such incidents as successful operations against terrorists, while rights groups often report higher casualties and harm to civilians.
Sistan and Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, is one of Iran’s poorest provinces. Its population is largely Sunni Baluch, and residents have long complained of discrimination and repression by the Shiite-led regime in Tehran.
