10 Iran security personnel dead in terrorists-claimed attacks

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) - At least 10 Iranian security personnel have been killed in two attacks claimed by a terrorist group in the country's southeast near Pakistan, state media reported on Thursday.

The attacks occurred in Sistan-Balochistan province which has for years faced unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Balochi minority, and Sunni Muslim extremists.

"Five member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the police died as martyrs during two night-time terrorist attacks against a Guards base in Rask and a police post in Chabahar, "Majid Mirahmadi, vice-minister of the interior, told state TV.

General Mohammad Pakpour, who heads the Guards' land forces, said on television that 15 attackers were killed during clashes with security forces. Mirahmadi said more than 10 security force members were hurt during the clashes that began Wednesday evening.

The Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice, in Arabic), claimed the attacks on its Telegram channel. Jaish al-Adl claimed an attack in December that killed 11 officers, one of the deadliest attacks in years, at a police station in Sistan-Balochistan's city of Rask.

The group claimed another police station attack in Rask that killed one officer on January 10. A week later, Iran said it retaliated with missiles and drones against Jaish al-Adl over the border in Pakistan. Pakistan then said it carried out air strikes against ethnic separatists inside Iran.

The rare cross-border fire added to regional tensions during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, but by late January the two countries sought to ease tensions. Impoverished Sistan-Balochistan province, which also borders Afghanistan, is one of the few mainly Sunni provinces in Shiite-dominated Iran.