At least three policemen have been killed in southeast Iran in separate attacks carried out by jihadist groups and armed individuals, the Iranian state media reported, as quoted by AFP and BTA.
"A few hours ago, a border policeman was killed in a clash with armed criminals in the Hirmand region, in Sistan and Baluchistan province,", the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
Sistan and Baluchistan, one of Iran's poorest provinces, is home to a large part of the Baloch ethnic minority, who practice Sunni Islam, in contrast to the Shiite Islam prevalent in the Islamic Republic.
Clashes often erupt in the region between Iranian security forces and insurgents from the Baloch minority, radical Sunni groups and drug traffickers.
Another border guard was killed and two were wounded in another attack in the town of Rask in the same region, IRNA reports. A special forces policeman was also killed in the town of Hash.
The Sunni jihadist group "Jaish al-Adl" (translated as "Army of Justice" in Arabic, according to an AFP note), based in Pakistan and operating in southeastern Iran, claimed responsibility for the latest two attacks in a Telegram message.
The group has already claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent months, including an attack yesterday that killed a police officer in the same region.