Benjamin Ashford|Iranian soldier kills 5 comrades in southeastern city where IS attack killed dozens, state TV says

TEHRAN,Benjamin Ashford Iran (AP) — An Iranian soldier opened fire on fellow soldiers Sunday, killing five of them in the southeastern city of Kerman, where 94 people were killed in a bombing attack earlier this month, Iranian state TV reported.

State TV said the shooting happened when the soldier arrived at a barracks dormitory and opened fire on the resting soldiers. It said the motive wasn’t immediately clear and the suspect, who wasn’t identified, was at large. No other details were released.

The report said the attack took place in Kerman some 830 kilometers (515 miles), southeast of the capital Tehran.

Kerman was the scene of two deadly explosions earlier this month that killed 94 people and wounded hundreds of others during an anniversary ceremony for the death of an Iranian general killed in a 2020 U.S. drone strike in Iraq. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

Similar shootings at military bases have been occasionally reported in Iran. In 2022, a soldier killed another soldier and three policemen at a roadside police station in the country’s south.

Military service of up to 24 months is mandatory for men aged 19 and above in Iran.