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TEHRAN: Iranian forces have killed 13 militants in a raid in the restive southeast, state media reported Wednesday, adding they were members of a group suspected of a recent deadly attack on police.

“So far, 13 terrorists have been killed and a number of others arrested” in Sistan-Baluchistan province, the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried by state television.

It said operations were carried out in the cities of Iranshahr, Khash and Saravan.

The broadcaster said that some of those killed were suspected of being behind an ambush reported on Friday that killed five policemen in Iranshahr.

Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long been a flashpoint for clashes between security forces and armed groups, including drug traffickers and separatists.

Home to a large Sunni Muslim Baluch community, the province is one of the poorest regions of Shiite-majority Iran.

Militant group Jaish Al-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for last week’s ambush in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Iran regularly reports deadly attacks in the province targeting police or Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran’s military.

Authorities blame militant groups, including Jaish Al-Adl, for such attacks.

On Saturday, Iranian forces killed six militants in another raid in the province, saying they were members of a group linked to arch enemy Israel.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday condemned Israel’s “unconscionable” attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and called on the international community to hold it accountable for its military campaign in Gaza and the wider region.

A double Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital on August 25 killed 21 people, including journalists and rescue workers, sparking outrage globally and renewed scrutiny of the targeting of civilians and medical facilities.

The strike prompted criticism from the United Nations, rights groups and foreign governments who called for independent investigations and protection of humanitarian zones in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the deadly Israeli airstrikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, which claimed the lives of at least 21 individuals, including four journalists and a rescue worker,” the foreign office said in a statement.

“This unconscionable and heinous attack on a medical facility, as well as the continued targeting of civilians and journalists, represents a grave violation of international human rights and humanitarian law, as well as freedom of the press,” it added.

The statement also condemned Israel’s military actions in Syria as a violation of international law and reaffirmed its support for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria, urging global efforts to prevent regional instability.

Syria mentioned Israel’s “military incursion” in the southwestern Damascus countryside on Monday, pointing out it could jeopardize regional peace. Subsequently, Syrian state media noted six army officers were also killed in Israeli drone strikes.

The region has remained in the grip of escalating tensions since the war in Gaza started in October 2023, with more than 62,000 Palestinians killed, many of them women and children.

The situation in the Palestinian enclave has also led to fears of famine amid Israeli blockades of humanitarian aid.

International bodies and human rights groups say Israel has been committing widespread human rights violations, including using starvation as a weapon of war, as they blame it for committing a Palestinian genocide.

Pakistan has long called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and advocates for a two-state solution, supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.