PAKISTANI MILITANTS ATTACK IRAN BORDER POSTS : A NEW DEVELOPMENT IN THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR?

 

By all indications, the new development at the Iran-Pakistan border seems like nothing more than another border skirmish.  

But there might be more to it than meets the eye.  

Since the Syrian war, Sunni and Shi'a have mobilized wide and far.  One of the hallmarks of the Syrian war, is that it has, almost from the beginning, caused foreign involvement on a massive scale.  

Now it seems that scale might be spilling even as far as Iran, where islamists of Sunni belief might want to challenge Iran's stance towards the Syrian civil war. 

14 Iranian border guards were killed by islamists faction on Friday, which prompted retaliation in the past few days.  

The faction, Jaish ul Adl, are called bandits by Iran, but such connotation might hide the true nature of the clashes. 

Iran also failed to say where the clashes took place.  

What is at stake is that Iran is now calling for Pakistant to exercise better control of its islamists factions at the border.

Jaish ul Adl, however, is a well defined Sunni rebel faction, and its name actually means Army of Justice.  They had no compunction in claiming responsibility for the attack they carried out on Friday. 

Iran has executed 16 rebels so far, in a military action that has seen no capture or procedure for the rebels.  They are expressly stating that their offensive is meant to have a more brutal approach than that employed by the rebels themselves. 

Another Sunni group, called Jundallah, has effected deadly strikes against the border regions of Iran that have seen both civilian and military casualties. 

Although these attacks are not new, they did begin in earnest in 2010, which prompts many to say that the Syrian civil war may have nothing to do with the intensification of the border conflicts.  But a closer exploration of the activities might bring to light the deeper motive for the renewed attacks. 
 

It seems only intuitive, that the motive for the attacks might have been reinvigorated by what the rebels see as punishment for Iran's support of the Assad regime, and the Iranian's own Shia rule.  

Op-Ed

Partial Source : France 24/ 10.29.13