Iran Kills Four Militants in South East
this picture provided by the Iranian army office on December 30, 2022 shows Iranian troops during a military exercise. ©Iranian army office / AFP

Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed four more militants during an operation in the country's southeast region where jihadists killed 10 police last month, state media said on Friday.

The deaths were part of an "ongoing operation" in Sistan-Baluchistan province, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Ahmad Shafaei said, adding that a soldier was also killed, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Iranian forces launched a crackdown after jihadists from the Pakistan-based Jaish al-Adl group killed 10 police officers on October 26 -- one of the deadliest raids in the region in recent months.

Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran's most impoverished provinces and one of the few mainly Sunni provinces in Shiite-dominated Iran.

It has for years faced unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni Muslim extremists.

"The operation in Sistan-Baluchistan will continue until the terrorists and criminals are eliminated," Shafaei said on Friday.

On Tuesday, the Guards said eight members of Jaish al-Adl had been killed during security operations there.

Local media reported that the mastermind of the October 26 attack had already been killed.

Formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, Jaish al-Adl is designated as a terrorist organisation by both Iran and the United States.

With AFP

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