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Conflicts

Iran border guards killed by Sunni militants

April 27, 2017

A clash on the Iran-Pakistan border has left 10 Iranian border guards dead. The Army of Justice, which has previously attacked Iranian security forces, has claimed responsibility for the violence.

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Iranian border guards at the Iran-Afghanistan border
Iranian border guards at the Iran-Afghanistan border, another drug smuggling routeImage: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Taherkenareh

A Sunni militant group killed 10 Iranian border guards at their post on the country's southeastern border with Pakistan on Wednesday, according to the Tasnim news agency.

The group, known as Jaish al Adl, or the Army of Justice, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the news agency. The report called the militants involved in the shooting "terrorists."

"Ten border guards of Mirjaveh county in Sistan and Baluchestan Province were martyred in an ambush by the terrorists in the Pakistani border's zero-point," the report said.

Karte Iran mit der Provinz Sistan und Baluchestan

Fighting against 'discrimination'

The Army of Justice is a Sunni militant group that has previously claimed responsibility for attacks that killed border guards in 2013 and 2015.

The militant group is fighting against what they say is discrimination against Sunni Muslims and ethnic Baluch in the province.

The region is known to be home to drug smugglers, as well as Sunni militants, both of whom regularly clash with Iranian security forces.

kbd/cmk (AP, Reuters)