Iran: Gunmen kill several officers in police station attack

Rask: Militants from a separatist group attacked a police station in southeastern Iran, killing 11 officers and injuring several others on Friday, officials told state media.

"In the terrorist attack on the police headquarters in the town of Rask, 11 policemen were killed, and others were wounded," Alireza Marhamati, deputy governor of the Sistan-Baluchistan province, told state television.

"The officers at the targeted police station defended themselves bravely and wounded and killed some of the assailants," Marhemati said.

Seven police officers were wounded, with some in critical condition, official news agency IRNA reported authorities saying.

Marhamati said senior police officers and soldiers were among those killed and injured in the attack that commenced at around 2 a.m. local time.

Local media reports said authorities are investigating the attack, with footage being released showing a helicopter searching for the attackers over the mountains along the Iran-Pakistan border.

According to state TV, the attack was carried out by the separatist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice).

Formed in 2012, the Sunni jihadist group is blacklisted by Iran as a "terrorist" organization.

The militant group, which advocates for rights and better conditions for the ethnic Baluchi minority, was involved in the 2019 suicide bombing that killed 27 members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard force, as well as other attacks.

State media added that several members of the militant group were also killed in ensuing shootout with security forces.

Rask is located approximately 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) southwest of Tehran in an impoverished province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and has a history of conflicts involving security forces and Sunni militants, as well as drug smugglers.