A coalition of Iranian Baluch insurgent groups, Jebhe-ye Mobarezin-e Mardomi (JMM), claimed two attacks on Islamic Republic security forces on October 8, killing a police officer and a conventional army soldier, bringing its claimed operations to five in just seven days. Formed in December 2025, JMM comprises four Iranian Baluch militant organizations: Jaish al Adl, PADA Baluch, Harakate Nasr Baluchistan, and the Mohammad Rasulullah military group.
Since January 2026, at least 37 armed incidents have occurred in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, including 11 initiated by JMM, 19 unclaimed attacks, six operations carried out by regime forces, and one by Ansar al Furqan, another Sunni Baluch militant group. Local militias primarily target the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), particularly its Ground Forces, as well as local law enforcement personnel.
While retaining ethnic Baluch symbols and a Sunni religious identity, JMM’s founding statement describes Iran as “held hostage” by the Islamic Republic, while describing its newly unveiled banner as “not a replacement for the national flag.” JMM similarly cast its January and February attacks as defending Iranians nationwide amid and following the January 2026 uprising.
October
JMM claimed five attacks between October 2 and 8.
On October 1, regime security forces raided a JMM position in Manzelab, killing four fighters, according to the group, and six, according to the IRGC. The next day, JMM claimed a mine and gunfire attack on an IRGC-Qods Force Fatemiyoun Brigade vehicle in Rudmahi that killed five, then separately said hundreds of security personnel backed by artillery and drones assaulted its mountain position near Rask.
On October 5, JMM ambushed a three-vehicle police patrol on the Bampur-Iranshahr road, killing two officers and wounding one. Two days later, it claimed an IED, RPG, and gunfire assault on the Golshan police headquarters in Jalgh. On October 8, the group carried out two more operations, killing a police officer near Nusratabad and striking a convoy from Iran’s conventional army (Artesh) near Nikshahr that killed one soldier and wounded three.
On October 5, unidentified fighters targeted plainclothes security personnel near Jakigur Bridge in Rask, reportedly killing three.
September
Six armed incidents occurred in September, including four unclaimed attacks and two regime raids on JMM positions.
On September 12, security forces raided a JMM position in Saravan, reportedly eliminating four fighters. The IRGC reported three personnel killed, and JMM claimed nine killed and 21 wounded. On September 23, security forces attacked a JMM position in Saravan, killing four fighters, while two IRGC commanders also died in the fighting.
In the unclaimed attacks, assailants killed two IRGC personnel traveling with supplies for Basij forces in Korrin near Zahedan on September 6. Two days later, six men on motorcycles assassinated a Parud Basij commander outside his home. On September 21, fire on a police vehicle along the Bazman-Iranshahr road killed one officer and wounded three. On September 30, attackers killed one officer near the Ahmadabad checkpoint in Rask.
June–August
Nine clashes occurred from June through August, but JMM claimed no operations.
In a June 7 attack initiated by regime forces via drones, four JMM fighters and one IRGC Ground Forces member were killed.
On June 19, unidentified shooters killed a police officer in Khash. Later that month, an IRGC member was shot leaving the Saravan IRGC headquarters.
On July 1, assailants killed a police officer while he was traveling to work in Sib-o-Suran. Two separate attacks followed on July 26: a roadside bomb damaged the Zahedan-Khash highway and shooters eliminated a police officer. On July 29 and 30, separate shootings killed two police officers in Iranshahr.
On August 27, attackers struck a border-guard patrol on the Mirjaveh-Zahedan road, killing one guard and wounding another.
March–May
During the height of the war, from March through May, seven incidents occurred, with JMM claiming responsibility for one.
JMM’s council of religious scholars addressed the Iranian nation in March and pledged to fight alongside it until the government’s collapse, while retaining explicitly Islamist language about jihad (holy war), hijra (religious migration), and exalting the word of God.
On March 3, fighters targeted the commander of Zahedan’s Tardast police station while he was on patrol and reportedly wounded four security personnel, while issuing a statement calling on government personnel to surrender to their “fellow countrymen.” Unidentified assailants killed a police officer in Mirjaveh on March 31.
On April 16, attackers eliminated three police officers in Saravan, and militants fired on an IRGC vehicle in Rask later that month.
On May 20, a police patrol came under fire in Saravan, killing one officer, while assailants shot dead police officer Isa Abbasi in Iranshahr on May 28.
Security forces struck back on April 22 by attacking JMM personnel in Rask, killing an unspecified number and seizing weapons.
January–February
Six incidents occurred in January and February, with JMM claiming responsibility for five.
On January 7, the coalition eliminated the commander of the Shahr-e Deraz police station, saying the shooting answered the killing of protesters across “our country.” Three days later, militants attacked a police patrol in the city of Dashtiari, killing one officer and wounding another, again citing repression across Iran. On January 31, about 10 armed JMM members reportedly established a temporary roadblock near Sarbaz and checked the identities of people traveling through the area.
JMM struck a car carrying a judiciary official in Khash city on February 9, wounding two police officers. The group stated the target was involved in repression and added that they had released one bodyguard because he was a conscript. Two days later, JMM attacked a special police convoy near Iranshahr. On February 15, it used a planted mine against a three-vehicle convoy near Saravan and stated the attack was in support of Iranians who were “massacred” in January.
JMM is not the only Iranian Balouch militant group
Ansar al Furqan, a Salafi-jihadist group that declined to join JMM, claimed an April 29 attack on a police patrol in Zahedan that killed three officers. Unlike JMM’s increasingly nationalist rhetoric, Ansar al Furqan retains an overtly sectarian focus, justifying a December 2025 attack as retaliation for insults against a companion of the Prophet Mohammad.
