TEHRAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's judiciary spokesman, Ali Reza Jamshidi, said on Tuesday that 12 border policemen have been killed in an ambush by rebels on the Pakistani border.
"They (the policemen) were on a mission and they were trapped in the bandits' ambush and 12 of them were killed," Jamshidi said.
The rebels fled after the attack on Sunday in the town of Saravan, located in the southeast border area of Sistan-Baluchestan province, he added.
On Monday, Iran's Students news agency (ISNA) reported "A truck which was used to feeding the border outposts with their provisions was attacked by the rebels in an ambush in the zero bordering point of Iran and Pakistan, which led to the martyrdom of some of Iran's border policemen."
The report did not say how many Iranian policemen were killed in the ambush.
Quoting an unidentified police commander, the report said, "this wicked operation which means retaliation is due to the deadly blows that the rebels had received from the border police within the last few days.
"In case invited, Iran's police is ready to help the Pakistani police to encounter and eradicate the rebels, the international bandits and the smugglers inside Pakistani territory," the unnamed police commander was quoted as saying.
An Iranian Sunni rebel group based in southeastern Iran, the Jundullah (Soldiers of God), has constantly been blamed for offense and kidnappings in southeastern Iran at the border zone with Pakistan.
The group, which is the target of Iran's border police operation, killed 16 policemen it kidnapped in southeast Iran in June.
Iran's Drug Control Headquarters (DCH) announced in November that Iran would seal all the borders of the country within two years to control drugs smuggling.
Iran is located at the crossroad of international drug smuggling from Afghanistan and Pakistan, the world's top opium producer, to Europe.
"They (the policemen) were on a mission and they were trapped in the bandits' ambush and 12 of them were killed," Jamshidi said.
The rebels fled after the attack on Sunday in the town of Saravan, located in the southeast border area of Sistan-Baluchestan province, he added.
On Monday, Iran's Students news agency (ISNA) reported "A truck which was used to feeding the border outposts with their provisions was attacked by the rebels in an ambush in the zero bordering point of Iran and Pakistan, which led to the martyrdom of some of Iran's border policemen."
The report did not say how many Iranian policemen were killed in the ambush.
Quoting an unidentified police commander, the report said, "this wicked operation which means retaliation is due to the deadly blows that the rebels had received from the border police within the last few days.
"In case invited, Iran's police is ready to help the Pakistani police to encounter and eradicate the rebels, the international bandits and the smugglers inside Pakistani territory," the unnamed police commander was quoted as saying.
An Iranian Sunni rebel group based in southeastern Iran, the Jundullah (Soldiers of God), has constantly been blamed for offense and kidnappings in southeastern Iran at the border zone with Pakistan.
The group, which is the target of Iran's border police operation, killed 16 policemen it kidnapped in southeast Iran in June.
Iran's Drug Control Headquarters (DCH) announced in November that Iran would seal all the borders of the country within two years to control drugs smuggling.
Iran is located at the crossroad of international drug smuggling from Afghanistan and Pakistan, the world's top opium producer, to Europe.
Iran Press News
