At least 10 police officers were killed in a suspected “terrorist attack” in an area of southeastern Iran long plagued by unrest, local media reported on Saturday.
They were killed during an attack on “police vehicles” in Sistan-Baluchistan province’s Taftan county, local news agencies reported.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred some 1,200km southeast of the capital Tehran.
Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has ordered an investigation after forming a committee to examine the incident’s details, according to reports.
The committee, comprised of police commanders and senior ministry officials, has also been directed to visit the incident site and submit a report to the minister “as soon as possible.”
Sistan and Baluchistan is a restive border province with the presence of several militant groups, including Jaish al-Adl.
In April, five police officers were killed when militants opened fire on their vehicles on a highway near Sib and Soran County of the province bordering Pakistan.
This incident occurred less than a week after clashes in the same province between Jaish al-Adl militants and security forces, in which 10 personnel and 18 militants were killed.
In January, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched missile attacks on Pakistan’s Balochistan province, claiming to target the militant group’s headquarters.
Pakistan condemned the strikes and responded with its missile attacks on what it identified as militant sites along the Iran border, leading to the escalation of tensions between the two sides.
Saturday’s attack was one of the deadliest attacks in the area in recent months.
