Iran hangs brother of insurgent Jundallah group leader arrested in Pak

TEHRAN - Abdolhamid Rigi, brother of an Iranian militant group leader, has been executed in Zahedan, Iran, for conspiring against the government.

Abdolhamid’s brother, Abdulmalik Rigi, is the leader of Jundollah -also known as the People’s Resistance Movement of Iran, a group that has killed more than 400 Iranian soldiers and civilians, Iranian officials said.

Abdolhamid was extradited to Iran after being captured in Pakistan in 2008, and his execution was earlier postponed last July and again in December in order to get more information from him.

Abdulmalik was arrested in Iran in February - four months after the group claimed a bombing which killed dozens of people, including senior officers of the elite Revolutionary Guards.

Iranian officials have linked Jundullah to the Sunni Islamist Al-Qaeda network and accuse Pakistan, Britain and the United States of backing the group to destabilize the country, The Daily Times reports.

Iran had hanged 13 Jundollah members in July last year and one in November in connection with various killings and attacks. (ANI)