In the rugged borderlands between Iran and Pakistan, a militant group called Jaish al-Adl has emerged as a significant security threat that has repeatedly brought these two regional powers to the brink of conflict. Operating from Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, this Sunni extremist organization—born from the ashes of the banned Jundallah group—has orchestrated deadly attacks against Iranian forces while navigating a complex web of regional allegiances and rivalries. Its activities have not only inflamed sectarian tensions but also complicated the already fraught relationship between Tehran and Islamabad, with each country accusing the other of harbouring hostile militants along their shared 900-kilometer border.
Jaish al-Adl—a Salafi-jihadist militant group in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province—operates along the border of Pakistan and Iran. Two of the BRAS (Balochistan Raaji Ajoi Sangar) member groups, BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) and BLF (Balochistan Liberation Front), are beneficiaries of Iranian support and consider Jaish al-Adl their enemy because it conducts terrorist attacks against Iranian security forces. Blogs maintained by BRAS supporters on social media are highly critical of Jaish al-Adl and its tilt toward Pakistan. The clashes and discord between BRAS and Jaish al-Adl also stem from underlying ideological differences. BRAS is a left-leaning nationalist-separatist militant organization whereas Jaish al-Adl is an anti-Iranian Sunni-Islamist militant group. BRAS considers Jaish al-Adl to be a threat because it is dividing the Baluch youth on religious grounds.
Who is Jaish al-Adl?
Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, surfaced in 2012. It mainly comprises members of the Sunni militant Jundullah group, which was weakened after Iran arrested most of its members.
The anti-Iranian group wants independence for Iran’s eastern Sistan and Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan provinces. These goals make it a common target for both governments.
Origins and Leadership
Jaish ul-Adl is a Baloch Sunni militant separatist organization that operates mainly in the Sistan and Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran, where there is a substantial Baloch population and a porous border with Pakistan. An armed group, Jundallah — rechristened as Jaish al-Adl (JAA) or the ‘Army of Justice’ in 2012 following a ban by the U.S. — brought two major military powers, Iran and Pakistan, to the brink of war. At present, Salahuddin Farooqui heads the JAA, which is believed to be behind the training of smaller Sunni militant groups to unleash attacks inside Iran.
The hanging of wanted anti-Iran Sunni separatist leader Abdul Malik Rigi in Tehran in June 2010, within five months of his capture, attracted dim media attention then. Fourteen years after he founded an armed group, Jundallah — rechristened as Jaish al-Adl (JAA) or the ‘Army of Justice’ in 2012 following a ban by the U.S. — brought two major military powers, Iran and Pakistan, to the brink of war last week.
Rigi was believed to be behind the killing of 154 members of the Iranian Armed Forces between 2003 and 2010 in southwest Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan region. In 2010, Iranian fighter jets forced the landing of a passenger aircraft to arrest Rigi, as he was travelling from the UAE to Kyrgyzstan. “The only thing we ask of the Iranian government is to let us be citizens. We want to have the same rights as the Iranian Shias. That’s it. We do not want discrimination between Sunnis and Shias in this country,” Rigi was quoted as saying in an interview with Al-Arabiya in 2008. Rigi belonged to the biggest tribe, the Rigis, from the Sistan-Baluchestan region.
Regional and International Connections
Iran, on many occasions, accused the U.S., Britain, Israel, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia of supporting Baloch separatists. However, Western countries accuse the group, including Farooqui, of having ties with al Qaeda. Experts say the JAA’s ideology is derived from the orthodox literature of Salafis, close to Saudi Arabia’s clergy. The JAA claims it is fighting only against Iran, for the rights of the Balochis.
The JAA came under the scanner of Indian security agencies following the abduction of an Indian, Kulbhushan Jadhav. The group allegedly traded Jadhav.
Recent Activities and Conflicts
The JAA triggered a rare skirmish between Iran and Pakistan, which saw missiles being fired from both sides, killing at least 11 civilians, as per the official figures released by these countries. Iran claimed it attacked training camps of the JAA inside Pakistan. In retaliation, Pakistan claimed to have carried out attacks on militants of the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF). The two countries accused each other of providing safe havens to these militants in their respective territories. Pakistan accuses the BLF of attacking its security forces inside the country.
Iran blames the outfit for the killing of 11 people in an attack on a police station in December 2023. The group was being watched closely by the Iranian security agencies following a suicide bombing on a bus, killing 27 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in 2019. It has even carried out attacks on Shia civilians, banks and stores.
Historical Context of Balochistan
Till the 1870s, erstwhile Balochistan spread over the parts of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The region’s history has grown complex with time, in the backdrop of a series of rulers from Afghan, Arab, Greek, Indian, Mongol, Persian and Turkic empires. However, local dynasties managed varying degrees of autonomy or independence between the 11th and 17th centuries. The JAA claims it’s fighting to “secure recognition of Baluchi cultural, economic, and political rights from the Iranian Government”.
Sistan-Baluchestan is spread over 181,578 sq. km, slightly smaller than Karnataka. It is this sparsely populated region (2.8 million) that has posed the Shia-majority Iran’s a major secessionist challenge. Rigi is from Iran’s minority Sunni Muslims and wanted to re-establish Balochistan, which is currently split between Pakistan and Iran.
The JAA is emerging as a formidable outfit because Sistan-Baluchestan is largely mountainous and shares a 322-km border with Sunni-dominated Afghanistan and a 925-km border with Sunni-majority Pakistan. Alexander marched through this region to reach India in 326 BC.
Cross-Border Tensions
Jaish al-Adl (“Army for Justice”) has become a bone of contention in Iran–Pakistan relations. The two countries share a porous, 900-kilometer-long border, and both accuse the other of allowing or enabling cross-border interference. Iranian authorities have blamed Pakistan for providing safe havens to Jaish al-Adl militants near the border region in the latter’s restive province of Balochistan.
On the other hand, Pakistan has accused Iran of providing shelter to two of the largest and best-known Baloch nationalist-separatist groups, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Jaish al-Adl is the new iteration of Jundullah. This latter group was an ultra-orthodox Sunni Deobandi Militant group that was disbanded after the 2010 arrest and subsequent execution of its emir, Abdul Malik Riggi, in Iran. Jaish al-Adl claims to advocate for the rights of Sunni Baloch citizens of Iran’s Sunni-majority Sistan and Balochistan province, but the organization is anti-Shia by nature. Currently the group is led by Abdolrahim Mullahzadeh (also known as Salahuddin Farooqi).
As Jaish al-Adl continues to exploit the porous Iran-Pakistan border, an unexpected dynamic has emerged in this volatile region. The group that once traded Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav to Pakistan’s ISI now finds itself in the crosshairs of both nations it sought to manipulate. In a remarkable twist of geopolitical irony, Iran and Pakistan—despite their mutual accusations—have recently shown signs of reluctant cooperation against this common threat, conducting independent but coordinated security operations along their shared frontier. Meanwhile, the group’s leadership remains elusive, with intelligence reports suggesting Salahuddin Farooqui may be operating from a third country altogether, possibly with the tacit protection of external powers that benefit from regional instability. As the descendants of Alexander’s ancient passage through these lands continue their modern struggle for identity and power, the ultimate fate of Jaish al-Adl may well determine whether this historical crossroads becomes a bridge between nations or remains a battlefield for generations to come.
