What is Jaish al-Adl, the Pakistan-based militant group targeted by Iran?

Pakistan has slammed neighbouring Iran for “unprovoked violation” of its airspace which killed two children and injured three others. Islamabad’s strong remarks on Wednesday (17 January) came hours after Iran’s state media reported that Tehran had targeted two bases of the armed group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency and state television said missiles and drones were used for carrying out attacks in the South Asian country. However, confusion soon emerged after these media reports disappeared. What is the Jaish al-Adl group that was reportedly targeted by Iran? Has Pakistan been shielding it? Let’s take a closer look. What’s Jaish al-Adl? Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, is a Sunni militant group based in Pakistan. Founded in 2012, the militant group claims it is fighting “discrimination” against Sunni Muslims and ethnic Baluch in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, as per a Deutsche Welle (DW) report. It is one of the many Sunni militant separatist groups claiming to fight for the independence of the Sistan and Baluchestan. [caption id=“attachment_13624282” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Iran’s flag is pictured at the Milak border crossing between Iran and Afghanistan, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, 8 September 2021. Reuters File Photo[/caption] The insurgent group’s founder Salahuddin Farooqui is known for his objection to Iran’s support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war, reported AFP. According to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Jaish al-Adl is one of the many splinter organisations formed after the Iranian militant group Jundallah’s founder Abdolmalek Rigi was executed by Tehran in 2010. Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, which was responsible for several attacks in Iran, reportedly claimed its goal was to highlight the plight of the Baloch people, who are largely Sunni Muslims. The Shiite-dominated Iran considers Jaish al-Adl as the successor of Jundallah and accuses the US, Israel, and its regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supporting it. However, tensions between Iran and its regional rivals have eased since last year. Jaish al-Adl has been classified as a terrorist organisation by Iran, the United States, Japan, and New Zealand. As per the US, the militant group “primarily targets Iranian security personnel” but also government officials and civilians. Jaish al-Adl had abducted 12 Iranian security personnel in October 2019 Pakistan’s border, five of whom were later let go and handed to Iran by Islamabad. The outfit targeted a police station in Sistan-Baluchestan’s Rask in December 2023, killing at least 11 Iranian police officers, as per AFP. Is Pakistan shielding Jaish al-Adl? Iran suspects Sunni-majority Pakistan of sheltering insurgents, possibly at Saudi Arabia’s bidding, as per the Associated Press (AP). Tehran and Islamabad have been at loggerheads for years over Jaish al-Adl. Iran accused Pakistan of harbouring Jaish al-Adl in 2019 after the militant group killed 27 members of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Sistan-Baluchestan. [caption id=“attachment_13624342” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Jaish al-Adl’s attack in 2019 killed 27 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Sistan-Baluchestan. AP File Photo[/caption] Speaking at a gathering to mourn the loss of lives, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the then commander of the IRGC, had said at Isfahan city’s Bozorgmehr Square, “The government of Pakistan must pay the price of harbouring these terrorist groups and this price will undoubtedly be very high. The Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer observe the previous reservations and will directly act to counter such acts," News18 reported citing AFP. He blamed Pakistan’s army and Inter-Services Intelligence agency for shielding the perpetrators. Another senior IRGC commander had claimed at the time that at least three Pakistanis, including one suicide bomber, and three Iranians were behind the attack. However, Pakistan had denied the allegations by senior Iranian officials, saying it does not allow its territory “to be used by terrorist organisations to target our neighbours”, as per Al Jazeera. Sharmine Narwani, a West Asia analyst, had pointed out the role of Saudi Arabia in the tension at the border between Pakistan and Iran, which share nearly a 1,000-km-long boundary. Speaking to Al Jazeera in 2019, the expert alleged that many of the leaders and members of Jaish al-Adl studied at schools funded by Saudi Arabia in Pakistan. She said Islamabad can “reign in” Jaish al-Adl and other militant groups but “the question is whether it wants to do so”. Iran has always prioritised diplomacy over confrontation with Pakistan, Behrooz Riazi, a Tehran-based political analyst, wrote in 2019. However, ties between the two neighbours have become tense over Islamabad’s alleged backing of anti-Shiite militant groups operating from its territory, noted DW. What we know about Iran’s strike Iran’s reported attack in Pakistan comes a day after it launched strikes on Iraq and Syria. As per Tehran-headquartered Mehr news agency, Jaish al-Adl said six suicide drones and several missiles hit its positions in the border mountains of Pakistan’s Balochistan. Two Pakistani security officials told AP that the Iranian strikes damaged a mosque in Balochistan’s Panjgur district near Iran border. According to Press TV, the English-language arm of Iranian state television, the attack was carried out by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Pakistan’s foreign ministry rebuked the strikes and warned Iran of “serious consequences”. “Pakistan strongly condemns the unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran which resulted in death of two innocent children while injuring three girls,” the statement read. “This violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty is completely unacceptable and can have serious consequences.” Pakistan said it had summoned Iran’s top diplomat in Islamabad over the incident. China has urged both its close partners, Pakistan and Iran, to show “restraint”. “We call on both sides to exercise restraint, avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension and work together to maintain peace and stability,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning was quoted as saying by AFP. Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, shed light on the seriousness of the unprecedented strikes by Iran. “Iran has staged cross-border operations against Pakistan-based militants in the past, but I don’t recall anything on this scale,” he wrote on X. “This plunges Pakistan-Iran ties – a delicate relationship even in the best of times – into serious crisis.” With inputs from agencies