The Battle for Sistan-Baluchistan

For the Wall Street Journal online:
Where Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet, there’s a people that want their own independent homeland and groups claiming to represent them have fought a three-decade’s long insurgency to get it.
The two million Baluchis, who are Sunni Muslims living in Sistan-Baluchistan, one of the largest and poorest of Iran’s 31 provinces, say the region belongs to them and they want more autonomy from Tehran.
Iran regards the area as a top security priority because of Pakistan’s links to Iranian nemesis Saudi Arabia. The two rival Muslim nations have backed competing proxies across the Middle East.
Majority-Shiite Iran suspects Saudi Arabia of backing Sunni insurgents in the region in the fight for dominance over land and resources. Saudi Arabia has denied those accusations.
The insurgency – which has killed hundreds of Iranian soldiers, government officials, and Shiite civilians – erupted again at the end of October  leaving 14 Iranian soldiers dead.
Read more here.