2 police officers killed in southeast Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AA): At least two police officers were killed in an attack on a police station in southeastern Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province on Saturday, according to Iranian authorities.

Local officials said armed assailants threw grenades at a police station in the provincial capital Zadedan at around 7:15 am before making their way into the site.

In a statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) branch in Sistan-Baluchestan said two police officers had been killed in the attack.

Four militants were also killed, the statement said.

Officials denied reports that suicide bombers were involved in the attack.

The province of Sistan-Baluchestan that lies along the borders between Iran and Pakistan has grown increasingly restive and lawless in recent months.

Media reports earlier said that two assailants had detonated their explosive-laden jackets outside the police station in Zahedan.

Sistan-Baluchestan province has witnessed several attacks on security forces in recent years, which Iranian authorities have blamed on local groups.

Saturday’s attack comes less than two months after a senior police officer was killed in the province by unidentified assailants.

Weeks before that, two police officers were killed in an ambush in Gulshan County of the province while they were reportedly on patrol.

In September 2022, at least 19 people were killed and 20 others wounded in violence after a group of armed protesters stormed a police station in Zahedan.