SUMMARY
Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) was a Baluchi group active in Iran’s south-eastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Jaish al-Adl emerged after Jondullah's leader, Abdul Malik Rigi, was arrested and later executed in 2010, and the group entered a period of decline. Many of its members broke away and formed new groups, the strongest of which was Jaish al-Adl. It was formed in 2012, and began attacking Iranian government targets in 2013. It has since fought a low intensity insurgency in Iran’s southeast, often staging raids, ambushes and bombings from across the border in Pakistan. Jaish al-Adl became active for the first time in February 2019, as a result of a suicide bomber ramming an explosive laden vehicle into a military convoy, killing at least 27 Revolutionary Guards. At this time it was estimated to consist of around 500 members, of which 100 were reported to be permanently active fighters.
Jaish al-Adl’s goal was the "establishment of a federal system in Iran” to protect Sunnis and the Baluchi people from injustice and discrimination perpetrated against them by Iran’s clerical Shiite regime, according to a statement made by its leader, Salahuddin Farooqi. The group was said to espouse Salafist Sunni Islamist leanings, and Iran alleged it was tied to al-Qaida. Jaish al-Adl rejected accusations of fighting a religious or sectarian war against Iran, and of having ties to “extremist organizations”, instead accusing the Iranian regime of being extreme by trying to "impose the Shiite faith on the Sunnis throughout Iran".
Sistan and Baluchestan Province was the center of Iran’s Baloch community of around two million people, from which Jaish al-Adl found its support. Unlike the majority of the Iranian population and the state institutions, which were dominated by Shia Islam, the Baloch mostly adhered to Sunni Islam. Among Iran’s provinces, Sistan and Baluchestan Province was the least developed; a factor that has contributed to continued tensions between the Baloch and the government in Teheran.
The Government of Iran has accused several foreign powers, including Pakistan and the United States, of aiding Jaish al-Adl. The group did have bases amongst the large Baloch population that also lived across the border in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. However, Jaish al-Adl is officially listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State, and while Pakistan has been unable to stop the group from using its territory as a safe haven, there exist no evidence of intentional Pakistani support.
