DHAKA: The Iranian authorities on Saturday hanged 16 ‘rebels’ following overnight clashes in which 14 border guards were killed on the frontier with Pakistan.

An Iranian judicial official said, reports The Straits Times.

‘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, the attorney general of Sistan-Baluchestan province, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

‘We warned the rebel groups that any attack targeting civilians or members of the security forces would not go unanswered,’ he added.

The official IRNA news agency, quoting what it called an informed source, said the clashes in which the border guards were killed occurred in a mountainous region used by both drug traffickers and armed rebels.

BDST: 1820 HRS, OCT 26, 2013
RoR/JCK