Iran opens probe after ‘miscreants’ kill 10 policemen in restive southeast province

At least 10 Iranian policemen were killed Saturday (Oct 26) after their convoy came under heavy attack by “miscreants,” local media reported. The attack came hours after the Shi’ite nation witnessed Israeli strikes targeting key military installations.

State-run IRNA news agency said the attack took place in the country’s restive southern provinceof Sistan and Baluchestan. The convoy was targeted in the Gohar Kuh area, some 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) southeast of Iranian capital Tehran.

IRNA reported that Eskandar Momeni, the country’s interior minister, has ordered a probe into the incident.

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No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

The country’s Baluch region has faced a low-level insurgency by Baluch nationalists for the last two decades.

The Sistan and Baluchistan province houses a large number of people with Baluch ethnicity, a community that is split between Iran and Pakistan. Baluch people practise Sunni Islam, in contrast to Iran's Shia roots. The province often witnesses clashes between Iranian security forces and the Baluch militants.

In fact, in October, Pakistan-based Jaish al-Adl, which translates to the 'army of justice' in Arabic, claimed two attacks in the province. At least six people were killed in those attacks.

Jaish al-Adl has been considered a terror organisation by both Iran and the United States since 2012.

The Baluch insurgency even became the reason for a brief standoff between Tehran and Islamabad in January this year, when Iran launched strikes inside Pakistan to target the Jaish al-Adl headquarters.

(With inputs from agencies)