An Islamic Revolutionary Guard [IRG] general is said to have survived a deadly attack that caused the martyrdom of a bodyguard, according to a report on Iranian state TV Saturday.
Brigadier General Hossein Almassi, a Guards commander in the restive Sistan-Baluchistan province, was traveling in a vehicle near a checkpoint in the provincial capital Zahedan when it came under fire by gunmen, Reuters reported Saturday, citing Iranian TV.
The general sustained no injuries, the report said.
The bodyguard who was slain was identified as Mahmoud Absalom, the son of a senior IRG commander in the region, according to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency [IRNA].
Authorities have arrested some suspects but did not identify them, the report added.
Sistan-Baluchistan is the site of occasional clashes between Iranian forces and various militant groups.
The province, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, is a base for a Sunni separatist group affiliated with al-Qaida and known as Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice.
Iranian security forces have also clashed with drug traffickers in the province, located along a major smuggling route for Afghan opium and heroin.
Source: Iranian media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
