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Seventeen Iranian border guards were killed in clashes with “armed bandits” on the country’s southeastern boundary with Pakistan overnight, Iran’s state news agency reported.
It gave no more detail on the identity of the armed group, but security forces have fought drug traffickers before in the border region with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The area also has a history of unrest, with the mainly Sunni Muslim population complaining of discrimination at the hands of Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim authorities.
IRNA quoted an unnamed official saying the fighting took place in the southeast Sistan-Baluchistan province and the exact number of dead had not been confirmed.
Source : Reuters
