Iranian police kill 11 bandits

Police killed at least 11 suspected bandits and confiscated a large amount of opium and weapons in two border-infiltration incidents in eastern Iran, state-run radio reported Monday. The report said the bandits were killed in two different operations during their attempts to enter Iran from Afghanistan late Saturday at the Tayyebat border crossing.

Photo: Iranian police kill 11 bandits

Police also confiscated a large amount of opium and guns in the operations, the radio reported without elaboration. In another report, national police chief Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghaddam blamed Afghanistan and Pakistan for their lack of control over their borders with Iran.

Moghaddam said Iran plans to tighten security with physical barriers and electronic monitoring devices along those borders, which measure more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

Eastern Iran has been the scene of sporadic clashes between police, drug traffickers and related bandits, as well as unknown rebel groups. Last week, rebels posing as security forces killed 21 people on a highway in southeastern Iran. Police believe they might have fled to neighboring countries. Iran is on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as Gulf states. Confiscation of large amounts of drugs is common, reports the AP.

N.U.