February 2, 2024
Another Iranian soldier has fired on fellow sodiers, this time killing five of them January 21 in Kerman, Iranian state TV reported.
State TV said the shooting happened when the soldier entered a barracks and opened fire on soldiers resting there.
It said the motive wasn’t known.
Police said the killer was later apprehended 700 kilometers (450 miles) away in Zarinshahr County of Esfahan Province with two Kalashnikov rifles and 180 live rounds, suggesting he was planning further killings.
Similar shootings at military bases have periodically been reported. In 2022, a soldier killed another soldier and three policemen at a roadside police station in the country’s south. Last year, a soldier in Deylam took four fellow soldiers hostage and then killed them.
Beyond dissatisfaction with military service, it isn’t clear why these soldiers have taken out their anger on fellow soldiers.