Iran says 4 border guards killed by 'armed bandits'

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's official news agency says "armed bandits" killed four Iranian border guards in an ambush near the Pakistani border.

IRNA says the attack took place midday Wednesday in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province. It said several of the gunmen were killed or wounded in the clashes, without giving an exact figure.

Last month police killed five members of the Sunni Jaish al-Adl militant group and lost one of their own in clashes in the same region. Security forces often clash with drug traffickers in the area, which is along one of the main routes for bringing Afghan opium and heroin to the Persian Gulf and Europe.