Iran says security forces killed 13 militants from group suspected of recent attack on police

Iranian forces have killed 13 militants in a raid in the restive southeast, state media reports, adding they were members of a group suspected of a recent deadly attack on police.

“So far, 13 terrorists have been killed and a number of others arrested” in Sistan-Baluchistan province, the Revolutionary Guards say in a statement carried by state television.

It says operations were carried out in the cities of Iranshahr, Khash and Saravan.

The broadcaster says that some of those killed were suspected of being behind an ambush reported on Friday that killed five policemen in Iranshahr.

Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long been a flashpoint for clashes between security forces and armed groups, including drug traffickers and separatists.

Home to a large Sunni Muslim Baluch community, the province is one of the poorest regions of Shiite-majority Iran.

Sunni jihadist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for last week’s ambush in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Iran regularly reports deadly attacks in the province targeting police or Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran’s military.

Authorities blame Sunni militant groups, including Jaish al-Adl, for such attacks.

On Saturday, Iranian forces killed six militants in another raid in the province, saying they were members of a group linked to Israel.