On Saturday, gunmen murdered the bodyguard of a Revolutionary Guards general in an attack on a checkpoint in restive southeast of Iran, official television said.

According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, the shooting occurred in Sistan-Baluchistan, a province on the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan that is frequently the site of assaults or conflicts between security personnel and armed groups.

Mahmoud Absalan, the son of General Parviz Absalan, a leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the region, was identified as the assassinated bodyguard.

State television reported that “criminals” opened fire at the checkpoint near the province seat of Zahedan.

According to IRNA, security personnel apprehended individuals responsible for the incident.

Poverty-stricken Sistan-Baluchistan has been the scene of conflicts with smuggling gangs, Baluchi separatists, and extreme terrorist organizations.

In January, official media said that three Guard personnel were among nine people murdered in the same territory after a fight with “armed criminals.”

Additionally, IRNA reported in November that three members of the security forces were assassinated in similar circumstances in Sistan-Baluchistan.

Saturday’s fatal shooting came two days after Iran reported the arrest in Sistan-Baluchistan of three persons it said had ties to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

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