TEHRAN, Iran – Unknown gunmen in a car on Tuesday opened fire on two Revolutionary Guard vehicles, killing three Guard members in Iran’s southeast, state media reported.

The official IRNA news agency said two assailants were also killed in the shootout, adding authorities are investigating.

It said the shooting happened near the town of Nikshahr in Sistan-Baluchistan province, some 1,300 kilometres (806 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran.

Similar past attacks in the province near the border with Pakistan, have been blamed on a Sunni separatist group affiliated with al-Qaida known as Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice. The group has been behind several attacks in Iran in recent years. Iran says it operates from across the border in Pakistan.

The southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province has been the scene of occasional clashes between government forces and militants, as well as armed drug smugglers.

In June, a roadside bombing in the province wounded a Guard commander.

In 2019, a suicide car bombing claimed by Jeish al-Adl attacked a bus carrying members of the Revolutionary Guard force, killing 27 troops.