TEHRAN: Security forces in Iran have killed four members of an armed militant group, Jundallah, in the southeast, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

Four senior members of the group were killed in an ambush overseen by the intelligence ministry in Sistan-Baluchestan province, IRNA said.

It added that a policeman was also killed in the gunfight.

It did not provide further details.

Jundallah (Army of God), whose leader Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged in June 2010, has waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Iran for almost a decade.

It has claimed a number of attacks against civilians and officials in the region.

Overwhelmingly Shia, Iran has a significant Sunni ethnic Baloch population in Sistan-Baluchestan, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Iranian officials claim the group has received support from the intelligence services of the United States, Britain and Pakistan.—AFP