Sunni Islamist group kills 27 in attack on Iranian security forces

Suspected Sunni Muslim militants killed at least 11 members of Iran’s security forces and 16 others in an attack on the headquarters of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, state media said on Thursday.

Nightly clashes between the Jaish al-Adl group and security forces took place in the towns of Chabahar and Rask, state television reported.

“The terrorists failed to achieve their goal of seizing the Chabahar and Lask Guard headquarters,” Deputy Interior Minister Majid Milahmadi told state television.

State television said 10 other security officials were also wounded in the fighting in the impoverished region, which is dominated by Sunni Muslims.

Jaish al-Adl says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for Iran’s predominantly Shiite Baloch minority. It has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Iranian security forces in Sistan-Baluchestan in recent years.

The region, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, has long been the scene of frequent clashes between Iranian security forces and Sunni militants and drug traffickers.

Iran is an important transit route for smuggling drugs from Afghanistan to the West and elsewhere.

In December, the armed group attacked a police station in the town of Lusk, killing 11 security guards.

In January, Iran targeted two of the militant group’s bases in Pakistan with missiles, prompting Islamabad to launch a swift military counterattack targeting separatist militants in Iran.