Five Iranian Border Guards Arrested By Taliban In Afghan Territory

The Taliban has arrested five Iranian border guards in Afghan territory and handed them over to the its intelligence department.

Taliban and Iranian officials have not yet commented about the guards, who claim they had entered the Afghan territory "by mistake." They were arrested in Farah province in southwestern Afghanistan. Thursday night, Iranian state media reported that they were freed.

The Iranian government and Taliban have been involved in several border disputes over the past months. Clashes at the border over water rights in May claimed the lives of at least two Iranians and one Taliban soldier.

The situation has recently been tense in Iran’s eastern borders as the insurgent Sunni Baluch group known as Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) intensified its operations against Iranian security forces. The group advocates for enhanced rights and improved living conditions for the Baluch ethnic minority.

Earlier in the month, six law enforcement officers were killed by Jaish al-Adl militants during an ambush on police vehicles along the Sib and Suran county route in Sistan-Baluchistan province. The week before, the group also launched simultaneous attacks against military posts in Chabahar and Rask, killing 16 police forces; the clashes also claimed the lives of 18 Jaish al-Adl militants.

Jaish al-Adl has also been a source of tension between Iran and its nuclear neighbor, Pakistan, for years. In January, the IRGC attacked positions in Pakistan in what it called an attempt to target terrorists. Pakistan retaliated by attacking locations in southeastern Iran.