New Delhi: Jaish al Adl, a terrorist outfit which is operating from Pakistani soil along its border with Iran, and is carrying out terrorist attacks in Iran, is working under the active support of the Pakistan army. This was disclosed to The Sunday Guardian by international agencies’ officers who are keeping an eye on the Iran-Pakistan border area. This was confirmed to this newspaper by Balochistan-based sources as well. Jaish al Adl (army of justice) is seen as an informal arm of the Pakistan army and is used to conduct terror operations which the army does not want to carry out by itself, according to the Baloch National Movement (BNM), which is fighting for an independent Balochistan.
Jaish al Adl, which is an offshoot of the terror group Jundallah, which was “banned” by Pakistan in January last year, carried out a suicide bombing on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards killing 27 of them on 13 February. This was a day before another Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish e Mohammed carried out a deadly suicide attack on India security forces near Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir claiming 44 lives.
Multiple Balochistan-based ground sources have told this newspaper that the Jaish al Adl is getting full support from other Sunni terror groups like the Jaish led by Masood Azhar and Lashkar e Tayyaba led by Hafiz Saeed. It has multiple training camps that are spread across the vast reaches of Balochistan where the cadre of all these three groups train together.
“Balochistan is perhaps the most militarised zone of Pakistan where there is army presence in virtually every nook and corner. Despite that the Jaish al Adl cadre roam freely in armoured vehicles, flaunting their arms and allegiance,” an official with an international agency said.
“The Jaish al Adl cadre have access to the best of weapons that are available in the region and regularly carry out operations against the Iranian army and Baloch groups with the support of the Pakistan army. There is no doubt that this group is acting as an informal arm of the Pakistan army,” he added.
According to a prominent activist of the BNM, which is carrying out a political as well as an armed struggle in the region, Jaish-a-Adl is like a paramilitary force of the Pakistan army. “Many times, the Pakistan army and the Jaish al Adl carry out combined operations against us. There have been several instances when they are cornered in an encounter with us but escape safely back to their camps because of the active support of the Pakistan army,” the Baloch leader said.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have lost more than 50 men in the last three-four years in the hands of the Jaish al Adl. In January last year, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch, head of the Balochistan Liberation Front, had told this newspaper that it was Jaish al Adl cadre who had kidnapped Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav from Iran and later handed him over to the Pakistani army.