Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Ground Force's Quds Base in South-eastern Iran said in the statement that two of its border guards were freed in a successful intelligence operation in Balochistan in the night of February 4, reports India Today. "A successful operation was carried out last Tuesday night to rescue two kidnapped border guards who were taken as hostages by Jaish ul-Adl organization two and a half years ago," the IRGC said in its statement. The soldiers, according to the statement, were successfully transferred back to Iran. Pakistan-based terrorist group 'Jaish ul-Adl' had on October 16, 2018, kidnapped 12 IRGC guards to the Pakistani territory. Military officials reportedly formed a joint committee between Tehran and Islamabad to free the kidnapped IRCG soldiers. Five of the soldiers were released on November 15, 2018, while four more Iranian soldiers were rescued by the Pakistan Army on March 21, 2019.
Declared a terrorist organisation by Tehran, Jaish ul-Adl is pursuing an armed struggle against the Iranian government, claiming to defend the rights of Baloch Sunnis in Iran. Jaish ul-Adl that has been staging cross-border attacks into southeast Iran from southwest Pakistan, had also claimed responsibility for the February 2019 attack on Iran's Basij paramilitary base which killed and wounded dozens of IRGC members after their bus came under terrorist attack in the province. The outfit has bases in Balochistan and started operations after recruiting the remnants of Jundullah, a Sunni militant organisation based in Sistan and Baluchestan in Iran, and reorganising them.