Report: Clashes in southeast Iran kill 3 troops, 5 bandits

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state media say paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces and an armed criminal gang clashed in the restive southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, leaving three Guard members and “at least five bandits” dead. The state-run IRNA news agency says the fighting took place late Saturday evening in the district of Kourin, near the Pakistani border. It also said that at least five other bandits were wounded. There were no further details. The province has been the scene of occasional clashes between Iranian government forces and various militant groups and also drug traffickers.