Five killed in courthouse attack in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iranian media report
Three assailants were also killed in the ensuing clashes with security forces, a senior police official told the state news agency IRNA.
He said a mother and child were among those killed by the gunmen who threw a hand grenade into the building in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan.
In a statement posted on its Telegram account, Jaish al-Adl took responsibility for the attack and urged "all civilians to immediately evacuate the area of clashes for their safety".
The Baluch human rights group HAALVSH, quoting eyewitnesses, said several judiciary staff members and security personnel were killed or wounded when the assailants stormed the judges' chambers.
Sistan-Baluchestan province, near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to Iran's Sunni Muslim Baluch minority, who have long complained of economic marginalisation and political exclusion.
The province frequently sees clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy. The Iranian government accuses some of them of ties to foreign powers and involvement in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
44 minutes ago
- The Independent
Suspect in Michigan Walmart stabbings is charged with a rarely used state terrorism count
A Michigan prosecutor filed a terrorism charge Monday against a man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart store. The charge has been rarely used in the state's courts since it was adopted more than 20 years ago during the national outrage over 9/11. Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg said she believes the charge fits because the weekend attack was intended to 'put fear in the entire community and to change how maybe we operate on a daily basis.' But proving that could be difficult. Bradford Gille, 42, has a history of mental health problems. A judge signed an order Friday, the day before the attack, telling police to find him and take him to a hospital because he was considered a risk to himself or others. Police said they were unable to find him. Moeggenberg also filed attempted murder charges, one for each Walmart stabbing victim. A not-guilty plea was entered for Gille, and bond was set at $100,000. A look at Michigan's terrorism law: Lawmakers respond to 9/11 The Michigan Legislature in 2002 created and amended a stack of anti-terrorism laws after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington. A terrorism crime is defined as an act "intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence or affect the conduct of government or a unit of government through intimidation or coercion.' A conviction carries a sentence of up to life in prison. 'I don't see the prosecutor being able to establish this,' sad Margaret Raben, a Detroit-area lawyer who has served as president of a statewide association of defense attorneys. 'It seems to have been a random thing, and the fact that he injured 11 people doesn't make it any less random." Gille's mental health will be an issue. He'll likely be evaluated to determine if he understands the charges and can assist his lawyer. Experts will also determine if he can be held criminally responsible. In 2016, Gille was accused of smashing a cemetery vault that had not yet been covered with grass, one of many encounters with local police over many years. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to Emmet County court records. 'He never should have been out on the street. It was just sad,' Karl Crawford, superintendent of Greenwood Cemetery in Petoskey, Michigan, told The Associated Press. School shooter convicted of terrorism There's no dispute that a terrorism charge is rare in Michigan. Wayne County, the largest in the state, has never used it, according to Maria Miller, a spokesperson for the prosecutor. The biggest case: the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in which four students were killed and more were wounded. Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to terrorism, murder and other crimes, and is serving a life sentence. He had planned the attack. It was the first time that a school shooter was convicted of terrorism in the United States, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said. 'The sheer force of destruction, violence, trauma and murder the shooter caused that day did not stop at the doorway of Oxford High School. It was carried through the doors and out into the community," McDonald said. ___ Associated Press reporter Corey Williams contributed.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Houthis say they hold 10 crew from Greek-operated ship they sank off Yemen
CAIRO/ATHENS, July 28 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they had rescued 10 seafarers from the Greek-operated cargo ship Eternity C which they attacked and sank in the Red Sea earlier this month. The Liberia-flagged Eternity C was the second ship to sink off Yemen this month after repeated attacks by Houthi militants with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades. Another Greek-operated vessel, the Magic Seas, had gone down days earlier. The strikes on the two vessels marked a revival of attacks on shipping by the Houthis, who have hit more than 100 ships between November 2023 and December 2024 in what they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza. The Eternity C crew and three armed guards were forced to abandon the ship following the attacks. Ten people were rescued by a privately led mission, while five more are feared dead mainly due to the attacks. Another 10 people were believed to be held by Houthis, maritime security sources had told Reuters. On Monday, the Houthis group released a six-minute video showing pictures of the 10 seafarers with some of them contacting their families. They also showed testimonies saying that the crew members were not aware of a maritime ban by Houthis against vessels sailing to Israeli ports. They said the vessel was heading to Israel's Eilat Port to load fertilizers. Reuters could not independently verify the footage. In what they called phase four of their military operations, the Houthis said on Sunday they would target any ships belonging to companies that do business with Israeli ports, regardless of their nationalities. Following the recent attacks, Greece said it would deploy a salvage vessel in the Red Sea to assist in maritime accidents and protect seafarers and global shipping.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Security operation shifts as Trump arrives in North East Scotland
The second phase of Donald Trump's visit to Scotland is underway, with the focus of the huge security operation shifting from Turnberry on the west coast to Menie in the north political focus has moved, and intensified, too. Having struck a deal on tariffs with the European Union, the US president has been discussing a variety of and Ukraine featured prominently in terms of international affairs. Energy policy and the effect of Mr Trump's tariffs on Scotch whisky exports to the US have come up the north east of Scotland, it's not just Mr Trump's answers to some of these questions which are being scrutinised, but also those of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Scotland's First Minister John Swinney. Both leaders are attending a dinner with Mr Trump at Menie, the president's golf resort just a few miles north of Aberdeen, a city known as the oil capital of of supporters of both Sir Keir and Mr Swinney have expressed disgust at their decision to dine with the the coast of the resort several oil-related vessels can be seen, along with 11 wind turbines. The president tried to stop their construction and he is still angry about not just the view he doesn't like. Mr Trump has been critical of the scale, pace and nature of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, which is the subject of intense lobbying alongside the Prime Minister at Turnberry earlier, Trump said: "Wind is a disaster in Scotland and across the UK."When we go to Aberdeen, you'll see some of the ugliest windmills you've ever seen." As for Sir Keir, this is the first visit he has made to the north east since taking office just over a year ago. And he too is under pressure on the topic of and Grampian Chamber of Commerce argue that 5,000 jobs have "needlessly disappeared" from the UK's oil and gas workforce in recent years as a result of taxation levels under Conservative and Labour Prime Minister told reporters: "We believe in a mix. And obviously oil and gas is going to be with us for a very long time. "And, that'll be part of the mix, but also wind, solar, increasingly nuclear."Trade body Offshore Energies UK, formerly known as Oil & Gas UK, welcomed his comments. Chief Executive David Whitehouse said: "If we are going to use oil and gas, let's produce it here - responsibly, with lower emissions, and with all the benefits to jobs, taxes and growth that come from homegrown supply."Words matter and today's words from the Prime Minster were very welcome. What matters even more is action." However, climate campaigners have been highly critical. Environmental pressure group Uplift desrcibed Trump's demand for more drilling as "pure fantasy".Uplift's executive director Tessa Khan, said: "New drilling won't cut bills and, after 50 years of extraction, the basin is fast running out of gas – that's geology not a political choice. "Trump's knowledge of the North Sea is limited to his view from his golf course, so let's not listen to him when it comes to how we power our country."This view was supported by many of the protestors in Aberdeensgire who staged a demonstration outside the extensive police cordon around Mr Trump's Menie had complaints about the cost of security for the visit. And they criticised US policy on topics ranging from abortion to immigration. Campiagner Esme Houston from Aberdeen said: "We're here to tell Trump to leave, bluntly. We're not very happy with his persence in our city and in our protester, Hannah, said: "It's important to stand up for what we, as Scotland, believe in. What he's done to this community with his golf course is unacceptable.""There's issues with the environment. The community was promised things that weren't delivered. People were forced from their homes." Protestors also demanded urgent action on Ukraine and Russell, chair of CND North East of Scotland, said: "We've become obsessed by war rather than dealing with problems by discussion and neogitation.""Masses of money is being made out of people being killed, whether it's in Ukraine or Gaza."Obviously the situation at present in Gaza is horrific and our government, as Trump, are all complicit with this. And it has to change."One thing remains consistent between the two halves of this trip. Golf. Mr Trump spent part of the weekend playing the game in Ayrshire and on Tuesday he will open a new 18-hole course at his Aberdeenshire among the pristine greens and carefully sculpted fairways of his luxury resorts there is no escaping those urgent, insistent questions about hunger and suffering among the ruins of war.
