TEHRAN, Iran — Armed bandits killed four members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard in fighting in a southern province, the official IRNA news agency reported Saturday.

The report said the clash between Guard members and the bandits happened Friday night in the Gounic district of Sistan and Baluchistan province. The site of the fighting is some 1,250 kilometers (775 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran. It did not elaborate.

The province has been the scene of occasional clashes between Baluch militants and Iranian forces. Security forces have also fought with drug traffickers in the province, which is on a major smuggling route for Afghan opium and heroin.

In April, Guard members shot dead three militants and dismantled their cell in the province.

By Associated Press