Gunmen kill police officer in southeastern Iran: state media

Gunmen in southeastern Iran shot dead a senior police officer on Friday, state media reported. The attack was later claimed by a Pakistani extremist group.

The official IRNA news agency reported that the attack took place in the Sistan-Baluchistan region, on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“The head of the criminal investigation department of the police in Khash district was killed by gunmen outside his house,” IRNA reported.

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The Pakistan-based Sunni rebel group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for the attack via its Telegram channel.

Tehran calls the organization a “terrorist” group.

Sistan-Baluchistan is one of Iran’s poorest provinces and has been plagued for years by unrest caused by drug gangs, Baluchi minority rebels and extremist Sunni Muslims.

Sistan-Baluchistan is one of the few provinces in Shiite-dominated Iran that is predominantly Sunni.

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