Iran News: Pakistan Officially Designates Tehran-backed Zainabiyoun Brigade as Terrorist Organization
Written by
Farid Mahoutchi
The Zaynabiyoun Brigade has been officially identified as a terrorist organization by Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, according to a directive made public on Thursday. The ministry stated that the brigade’s activities pose a threat to Pakistan’s peace and security, although specific details were not provided.
A Pakistan ministry official, speaking anonymously due to lack of authorization for public media interaction, confirmed the authenticity of the March 29 order, which includes the Zaynabiyoun Brigade in a list of 79 proscribed organizations.
In 2019, the United States designated the Zaynabiyoun Brigade as a terrorist organization, citing its composition of Pakistani nationals and its provision of “materiel support” to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Zainabiyoun Brigade is known to be comprised of mercenaries affiliated with the terrorist force, the Quds Force, operating in Syria against the Syrian people. The group was formed by the IRGC to fight in Syria following the onset of the popular uprising in the country.
The IRGC employs this brigade to support the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government in its suppression of the Syrian people.
Relations between Pakistan and Iran have become tense since last December following mutual military attacks between the IRGC and the Pakistani army on each other’s soil, escalating tensions to unprecedented levels.
One of the headquarters of Fatemiyoun is located in Sheikh Najjar garrison.
Pakistani forces (Zeynabiyoun) are also present in #Aleppo. pic.twitter.com/sXykjHsAOf— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) December 21, 2016
On January 16, the IRGC launched an attack on Balochistan province in Pakistan, claiming to target a Sunni militant group. In response to this attack, Pakistan, on Friday, January 18, stated it aimed to target the “positions of terrorists” with a military operation.
Simultaneously escalating tensions between Tehran and Islamabad in recent months, the Pakistan Counterterrorism Department announced the arrest of a “trained terrorist” within the Zainabiyoun Brigade in early February.
Pakistani media, citing the counterterrorism department, reported that the suspect was apprehended during a raid on the Sarbaz Bazaar area in Karachi and confessed to gathering critical information for the intelligence of a “hostile neighboring country.”
In February 2021, Pakistani security forces announced the arrest of a member of the Zainabiyoun Brigade in Sindh province, Pakistan, and stated that he was the fourth individual detained in Pakistan in two months on charges of belonging to the Zainabiyoun Brigade. Pakistani security officials said the detainees had received military training in Iran.
Nearly two years after the arrest of several Zainabiyoun group members, Pakistani media reported the discovery of a money laundering network of the Islamic Republic that had been transferring “huge sums of money” between Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq over the past seven years.