Armed Group Shoots Patrol Car, 5 Iranian Police Killed

Tehran, Iran/ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/Milad Fakurian

JAKARTA - Five policemen were killed in southeastern Iran on Friday after unidentified gunmen opened fire on two police patrol vehicles.

Iran's southeastern region is the site of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who claim to fight for greater rights and autonomy.

Reported by Reuters on Friday, August 22, Tehran accused some of them of links to foreign powers and involvement in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.

On July 26, an armed attack by the Sunni Jaish al-Adl Baluch group at a court building in the province of Sistan-Baluchestan, Iran, killed five people and injured 13 others.

Three attackers were also killed in subsequent clashes with security forces, a senior police official told state news agency IRNA.

He said a mother and child were among those killed by gunmen who threw hand grenades at the building in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan.

In a statement posted on his Telegram account, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for the attack and urged "all civilians to immediately flee the clashes for their safety".

Human rights group Baluch, HAALVSH, quoted eyewitnesses as saying several court staff and security personnel were killed or injured when the attackers stormed the judge's room.