IRGC says it killed four militants in restive southeast

Four militants were killed and eight others arrested in a joint operation by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Islamic Republic's intelligence ministry in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, the IRGC announced on Friday.

"Iranian security forces struck several terrorist teams in Sistan-Baluchestan province during the ongoing 'Martyrs of Security' drill by the IRGC Ground Force," said General Shafaei, the spokesperson for the exercises.

"Eight members from four terrorist teams were arrested, while four were killed".

The operation came less than a week after the insurgent Sunni Baloch group Jaish al-Adl killed ten Iranian border guards in Taftan County.

The Jaish al-Adl attack was condemned by the United Nations Security Council as a "cowardly terrorist attack."

Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province has been the site of numerous attacks attributed to Jaish al-Adl, a group known for its history of ambushes, bombings, and other violent operations, resulting in the deaths of both civilians and security personnel.

Jaish al-Adl advocates for an independent Balochistan that encompasses Baloch populations on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border. The group has conducted numerous armed attacks in Iran's southeast.

In January, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched missile and drone attacks against the militant group's bases inside Pakistani territory, a rare cross-border attack which outraged Pakistani officials and prompted Islamabad to launch airstrikes against several locations in southeastern Iran.