News - World: Six armed criminals have been killed during a clash with police forces in Iran’s southeastern province of Kerman, according to police.

Provincial police chief Abdolreza Nazeri said on Tuesday that 697 kilograms of narcotics were confiscated during the incident which occurred the previous night.

“During the clash, 697 kilograms of narcotics were discovered and Lieutenant Colonel Ali Barzgarpour was also martyred,” Nazeri said.

He explained that the incident occurred as police officers grew suspicious of two cars at a checkpoint in Kerman and asked them to pull over, but they sped up and tried to escape.

Nazeri added that the police officers immediately chased after the cars and managed to arrest one of them and kill six others.

“During the operation, in addition to narcotics, 3 assault rifles, 17 magazines, and large quantities of ammunition were discovered, and unfortunately, five of our comrades were injured as well,” he further said.

Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, is used as a transit route for trafficking of narcotics from Afghanistan to markets in Europe.

For decades, Iran has been fighting a relentless battle against international drug networks, but the war has cost it the loss of many lives and finances.

For instance, the country has spent more than $700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.

The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has also claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades.

Source: Press TV