Tehran, Jul 23 (AP) Militants shot and killed four highway policemen Sunday in southeast Iran, state media reported.

State TV said the officers were on a routine mission on a road linking Khash and Taftan towns some 1200 kilometres (745 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran, in restive Sistan and Baluchistan province, when they were "attacked by terrorists,” a reference to separatist groups.

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The province has witnessed multiple clashes between Iranian security forces and drug smugglers as well as a Sunni separatist group affiliated with the extremist group al-Qaida, known as Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice.

Sistan and Baluchistan province is a well-known route for drug and human trafficking from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Europe and Arab nations in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. (AP)

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)