TEHRAN, Oct 27: A Sunni militant group, Jaish-ul-Adl, has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 14 Iranian border guards in the country’s mountainous southeast, ISNA news agency reported ON Sunday.

The hitherto-unknown Jaish-ul-Adl (Army of Justice) said on its website that it was behind Friday’s attack, calling it a “severe blow” for the Iranian government.

The assault was launched in response “to the crimes of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria,” the group said in a statement posted on jaishuladl.blogspot.fr.

Photographs on the website show masked gunmen holding up flags similar to those of jihadi groups in Syria and Libya.

Friday’s attack in the Iranian region of Sistan-Baluchestan on the Pakistani border killed 14 border guards and wounded seven others, prompting Iran to hang 16 prisoners at a jail in the province.

Tehran said the militants crossed over from Pakistan and fled back across the border after the attack.—AFP