Ten police officers were killed in an attack on a convoy in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan on Saturday, according to Iranian authorities.
The incident occurred in the Gohar Kuh area, around 1,200 kilometers southeast of Tehran. Initial reports described the assailants as “miscreants,” but specific details surrounding the ambush remain scarce.
The HalVash advocacy group, representing Baluch communities in Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, shared images of the attack on social media. The photos and videos showed what appeared to be a disabled police truck, marked with a green stripe characteristic of Iranian police vehicles. One image depicted two officers’ bodies in the vehicle’s front seat, with the truck visibly marked by bullet holes rather than signs of explosives.
HalVash reported that the ambush targeted two security force vehicles, with all personnel onboard killed. Iranian state media later confirmed the deaths, stating that Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has ordered an investigation, calling the incident “the martyrdom of a number of police.”
Authorities have yet to identify suspects, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. This latest assault comes amid heightened tensions following Israel’s large-scale strikes on Iran early Saturday morning.
Sistan and Baluchestan, one of Iran’s least developed regions, has been a focal point of violence for decades, often linked to heroin trafficking and an ongoing insurgency by Baluch nationalists. Relations between the region’s Sunni Muslim population and Iran’s Shiite-dominated government have been historically strained. Attacks in the area, such as those by the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, typically involve quick strikes that target security officials.
Though hit-and-run tactics are common, the province has witnessed mass-casualty assaults in recent years. In April, gunmen with explosive vests targeted several sites, killing 10 people before security forces killed 18 militants. Another assault in December killed 11 people and wounded eight more.
Meanwhile, the Taliban announced an investigation into reports that Iranian security forces recently killed Afghan migrants in the area, further straining relations between the two countries.
