Six 'armed bandits' killed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard in shootout

Three members of Tehran's paramilitary force also dead after clashes in Sistan-Baluchistan

The area in Sistan and Baluchestan province has been the scene of occasional clashes between Iranian government forces, above, and various militant groups. AFP

Six “armed bandits” have been killed in a shootout in Iran's south-east, the country's Revolutionary Guard has said.

Three of its members also died in the fighting. The clashes in Sistan and Baluchistan province broke out around a militant hideout near a village in the centre of the province, the paramilitary force said late on Saturday, on its Sepah News website.

“Six bandits were killed and five others wounded,” said the Revolutionary Guards, as three members of the force also died. No arrests were announced.

On Friday, the Guards said they “targeted and killed the perpetrators” behind an attack that killed two of their members on December 25 in the same province.

Sistan-Baluchistan lies on the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan and is a flashpoint for clashes with smuggling gangs and separatists from the Baluchi minority, or extremist militant groups.

On November 18, three policemen, including a colonel, were killed and six wounded in fighting with an armed group in an area bordering Sistan and Baluchistan province.