Iran said it executed 16 "rebels" Saturday in reprisal after gunmen killed at least 14 border guards near the border with Pakistan, in a rugged area often rocked by violence. The ambush happened overnight in the mountains of Sistan-Balochistan, a province in south-eastern Iran. The province is home to a large community of minority Sunni Muslims, unlike the rest of Shia-dominated Iran.
"Fourteen border guards were killed during armed clashes in the region of Saravan, and five others were wounded," the official IRNA news agency said, citing what it called an informed source. The unnamed source identified the gunmen ass "bandits or rebels opposed" But Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi said the guards were killed in an ambush set by Iranians who were "members of hostile groups".
"Three soldiers have been taken hostage and taken to the other side of the border in Pakistan," he said, adding Iran would "take measures to secure their release". In retaliation for the attack, the Iranian authorities said they hanged 16 "rebels" held at a prison in the region. "Sixteen rebels linked to groups hostile to the regime were hanged this morning in the prison of Zahedan in response to the death of border guards in Saravan," Mohammad Marzieh, attorney general of Sistan-Balochistan, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.
Abdollah said "we warned the rebel groups that any attack targeting civilians or members of the security forces would not go unanswered". He also called on the Pakistani government to "take measures to control the border more seriously". The region has seen bloody clashes during the past few years. Officials say more than 4,000 police officers and soldiers have been killed there in three decades of fighting with drug traffickers.
Iran is a major transit route for drugs that originate in Afghanistan and are trafficked across its territory, much of them bound for Western countries. People smugglers also use the route to traffic illegal immigrants to Europe, via Iran and Turkey. Officials say Iran has spent millions of dollars to build a "wall" along lengthy stretches of its 1,700-kilometre eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan in a bid to stop the trafficking.
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