Officers were \u2018on mission to provide security\u2019 during Friday prayers in Sistan-Baluchistan
\n TEHRAN
\nGunmen ambushed and killed two Iranian policemen on patrol in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, state media reported Saturday.
\nThe officers had been \u201con a mission to provide security\u201d during Friday prayers in the town of Golshan when they came under attack, said the official news agency IRNA.
\nClashes ensued and led to the \u201cmartyrdom\u201d of Lt. Col. Mohsen Pudinehi and Lt. Ehsan Shahraki at the hands of \u201ccriminals,\u201d it said, without elaborating.
\nSistan-Baluchistan province, on Iran\u2019s border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been the scene of weekly protests that flared in September over the alleged rape of a teenage girl by a police officer.
\nThe protests began two weeks after nationwide demonstrations erupted over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic\u2019s dress code for women.
\nThe region is one of Iran\u2019s poorest and is home to the Baluchi minority, who adhere to Sunni Islam rather than the Shiite branch predominant in Iran.
\nThe area has previously seen clashes with drug smuggling gangs as well as rebels from the Baluchi minority and extremist groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Officers were \u2018on mission to provide security\u2019 during Friday prayers in Sistan-Baluchistan TEHRAN Gunmen ambushed and killed two Iranian policemen on patrol in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, state media reported Saturday. The officers had been \u201con a mission to provide security\u201d during Friday prayers in the town of Golshan when they came under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-318913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n