17 Iranian border guards killed

TEHRAN - In a clash in the border area of southeastern Iran, 17 Iranian border guards were killed, according to the report of official IRNA news agency on Saturday.

Quoting an informed source, the report said the armed clash in a mountainous area near Saravan city bordering Pakistan, in the Sistan and Baluchestan province, on Friday evening left 17 guards killed and numbers injured.

Deputy governor general for political and security affairs of the province, Rajabali Sheikhzadeh, confirmed the news and death of border forces but declined to give further details.

Units of military and security forces from other cities of the province have been dispatched to the border area, according to IRNA. ?

Also, the representative of Saravan city in the Iranian Majlis (parliament), Hedayatallah Mirmoradzehi, confirmed Saturday that in the incident in Gezistan region near Saravan city on Friday night 17 border guards have been killed, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Mirmoradzehi said the people of Saravan condemn the terrorist attack and ask the officials to seriously deal with the terrorists, according to Fars.

Another report by Fars said that in the attack, five guards were injured and four others were taken hostage.

The informed source told IRNA that bandits or rebels were behind the attack on the border guards. But, a report carried by Fars said Jeish-al-Adl group (The Army of Justice) is supposed to be responsible for the attack.

The Sunni rebel group of Jeish-al-Adl, which says is fighting for the rights of the Sunni people in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province, has earlier claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Iranian border posts.

On Oct 14, in a statement posted on the website of the group, it said that in the attack on Iran's Nodo border post with Pakistan, the group killed more than 10 Iranian guards.

Sistan and Baluchestan province which is mostly populated by the Sunni Muslims has been the locus of bloody clashes between the Sunni rebels and the Iranian security forces in the past years.

The region is also located at the crossroad of the international drug smuggling route from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Europe.