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Bomb kills 11 on military bus in Iran

From Shirzad Bozorgmher
CNN

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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A car bomb ripped through an Iranian military bus in the southeastern Iranian border town of Zahedan Wednesday morning, leaving at least 11 dead and 31 wounded, state-run Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

A witness told IRNA the car blew up as soon as the bus, which belonged to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, arrived to pick up military personnel at a barracks.

Two motorcycle riders reportedly fired shots at the bus, forcing it to stop near the car bomb when it was then detonated by remote control, a witness said.

Iran's semi-official FARS news agency reported four people in a car cut off the bus around 6:30 am (10 p.m. ET), then sped away on two motorcycles -- later detonating the explosives by remote control.

A small terrorist group, Jondollah, claimed responsibility for the attack, FARS reported. The group has a history of launching attacks at Iranian border posts.

In addition to the claim of responsibility, government spokesman Sultan Ali told IRNA five people have been arrested. It was not immediately know if they were members of the Jondollah group.

According to FARS, an Iranian security official identified one of the arrested men as a would-be suicide bomber who tried to detonate his explosives but failed, while another was carrying a camera to make a video of the attack.

Zahedan, located on the Iranian-Pakistan border Afghanistan, is on a heavily traveled route used by smugglers to traffic contraband, such as opium, through Iran.

Iranian officials said the final destination of the contraband is usually Europe and the United States and that each year smugglers kill Iranian security forces in similar attacks.

The security forces attacked this time were members of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological force charged with defending the Islamic regime. It was created 1979 during the country's revolution.

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