(ANSA) – TEHERAN, 02 JAN – Nine people were killed, including three members of the Iranian forces, in the course of a new clash with “armed criminals” which took place yesterday in the Sistan-Baluchistan province in the south-east of the country: announced the Revolutionary Guards.
“Six armed criminals were killed and five others were injured in an intense confrontation,” Sepah News, the official website of the Pasdaran, announced in a statement. “Three local fighters died as martyrs in the clash, which took place near a village” in the center of the province, the statement explained without providing further details.
The Revolutionary Guards had announced last Friday that they had killed three people implicated in the deaths of two of their members on 25 December in the same region.
The province of Sistan-Balochistan, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, is a frequent scene of attacks or gun battles between Iranian security forces and armed groups. The violence is often linked to smuggling, or involves ethnic Baloch separatist groups or jihadist groups that according to Tehran are supported by Pakistan. (HANDLE).