TEHRAN, May 15: Iranian security forces have killed 10 suspected Sunni militants following the roadside murders of a dozen civilians in the restive southeast of the county, state television said on Monday. Late Saturday’s execution-style murders, on a main road between the cities of Bam and Kerman, were claimed by a shadowy group called Jundullah. The group is believed to be based across the border in Afghanistan.

“At least 10 members of those who were responsible for the senseless killing of our citizens on the Bam-Kerman road were killed by local forces,” Iran’s national police chief, Esmaeel Ahmadi-Moghadam, was quoted as saying.

He said the fugitives were trying to leave Iran, “but we closed off all of their escape routes,” adding that police, members of the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia were hunting the group.—AFP