Three Iranian Revolutionary Guards killed near Pakistan border

Three members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), sent to reinforce border police, were killed in an attack in the southeast of Iran near Pakistan, according to Iranian media reports on Monday.

Armed "bandits" killed the IRGC members late on Sunday near the city Saravan in the Sistan-Baluchistan region, according to a Revolutionary Guards statement carried by Fars news agency.

Similar attacks, usually against police officers and border guards, happen in the border region several times a year.

Sistan-Baluchistan has history of unrest with the mainly Sunni Muslim population complaining of discrimination by Iran's Shi'ite Muslim authorities. The area is also rife with drug and arms traffickers.

The report did not give the identity of the armed group.

In February, Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), a Sunni Muslim militant group with links to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for kidnapping five Iranian border guards and taking them to Pakistan. One was killed and the others were freed in April.