TEHRAN - A group of four gunmen ambushed a police station in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Balouchestan province in southeast Iran, on Saturday morning and opened fire indiscriminately at the structure.

The Sunni Musalla prayer hall, where Police Station 16 is located, was the target of the attackers.

According to witnesses, the terrorists ascended the police station’s watchtower and began firing at the officers from above.

Local sources said the sound of gunshots could be heard in the area, as a fierce exchange of fire was underway.

In the midst of the intense exchange of fire, the police officers within the station and the security officers outside the facility encircled the attackers and killed the four gunmen.

Two policemen were also martyred in the ambush, IRNA reported.

The province’s prosecutor general, Mehdi Shamsabadi, told IRNA that with the killing of the four terrorists, the situation is now under control.

The provincial police chief also said four guns, seven grenades and a number of suicide belts were seized from the assailants during the operation.

The province of Sistan-Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has seen a number of terrorist strikes in recent years that have targeted both security officers and civilians.

Iran’s security forces have consistently secured the country’s borders and repulsed practically all terrorist attacks by foreign-backed anti-revolutionary factions across the country.