At least five Iranian security force members were killed during clashes with gunmen who opened fire on two sites linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to state media.
At least five Iranian security members were killed in clashes with militants at two separate points in southeastern Iran, state media reported on Thursday.
The official IRNA news agency said another 10 other security force members were injured and at least eight gunmen were killed during the gunfights.
It said the fighting erupted overnight in Sistan and Baluchistan province when gunmen opened fire on a Revolutionary Guard post in Rask town and a coastguard station in Chahbahar city, close to the border with Pakistan and some 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.
A ‘foiled terrorist attack’
The exact extent of the gunfire was unclear in the morning, but state media reports called it a “foiled terrorist attack.” IRNA news agency said that six assailants were under siege and that there were hostages at the two sites, without giving further details.
The Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, which says it seeks greater rights for the ethnic Baluch minority, claimed responsibility for the attack. State TV showed gunfire during street clashes.
The southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan has been the site of occasional deadly clashes involving the militant group, armed drug smugglers and Iranian security forces.
In December, militants killed nearly a dozen police officers in an attack on a police station in the province. The attack was also claimed by the Jaish al-Adl group.
The area is one of the least developed parts of Iran. Relations between the predominantly Sunni Muslim residents of the region and Iran’s Shiite theocracy have long been strained.
Source: Dw
