Two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including a brigadier general, were killed in a helicopter crash in southeastern Iran, official media reported on Monday.
The Iranian news agency IRNA stated that a lightweight gyrocopter, part of the IRGC ground forces, went down during a combat operation in the Sirkan border region of Sistan and Baluchestan province, an area near the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The deceased were identified as Brigadier General Hamid Mazandarani, commander of the Neynava Brigade in Golestan province, and pilot Hamid Jandoghi, a member of the IRGC ground forces.
Since October 26, Iranian forces have been conducting an operation in the region following the deaths of ten police officers in an attack claimed by Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni group based in Pakistan. Iranian authorities have reportedly killed several militants and detained others during the ongoing operation.
The province of Sistan and Baluchestan, one of Iran’s poorest, is home to the Baluchi Sunni minority and has experienced repeated clashes between Iranian security forces, Baluchi insurgents, Sunni extremist groups, and drug traffickers.
Although helicopter accidents are rare in Iran, a tragic helicopter crash involving then-president Ebrahim Raisi in May previously led to early elections.
