Three policemen killed in southern Iran

Three Iranian policemen were killed in Iran's southern province of Hormuzgan, the official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.
  
The policemen "were martyred in an armed clash with bandits in the Hajiabad border post, Hormuzgan province, on Wednesday," the report said.
  
"They were attacked near a village 170 km east of Hajiabad city on their way back to their serving post" and "they were martyred in an operations by the bandits in an ambush," IRNA quoted deputy head of the provincial police for social affairs colonel Asghar Mahmoudi as saying, Xinhua reported.
  
The bandits managed to escape taking advantage of the dark night but operations are underway to identify and arrest them, Mahmoudi said.
  
The report, however, did not elaborate on the affiliation of the attackers or their motivation of such an attack.
  
Hormuzgan province, located by the Persian Gulf, is the locus for such clashes between Iranian security forces and smugglers, who smuggle drugs, gasoline and goods between Iran and the littoral Arab countries.