Ten Iranian border guards have been killed in a terrorist attack in the country’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan close to the border with Pakistan.

According to The Iran Project, Provincial police said gunmen carried out a surprise attack against police vehicles in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan County on Saturday and opened fire on them.

The terrorists engaged in a fierce exchange of gunfire with the guards, and ten servicemen were killed in the process.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group, with headquarters in Pakistan, later claimed responsibility for the act of terror, which took place some 1,200 kilometers (745.6 miles) southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Interior Minister Eskandar Mo'meni has ordered a team of police commanders and ministry officials to investigate the circumstances surrounding the terrorist attack.

The province of Sistan and Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has witnessed several terror attacks targeting both civilians and security forces in the past several years.