Report: Gunmen kill 2 border guards in southeastern Iran

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s official IRNA news agency says gunmen have shot and killed two guards at an outpost along the country’s southeastern border with Pakistan.

Tuesday’s report says the guards and the attackers, whom IRNA identified as terrorist suspects, exchanged gunfire for two hours before dawn on Tuesday at the Mirjaveh border crossing.

IRNA identified the killed guards as Maj. Vahid Hosseinzadeh and soldier Abolfazl Gholampour.

Mirjaveh is in southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, where Iranian forces and Baluch militants engage on occasional clashes. On Monday, Iran said security forces had confiscated a large amount of weapons and ammunition from militants in the area.

Security forces also frequently clash with drug traffickers in the province, which lies on a major smuggling route for Afghan opium and heroin.