TEHRAN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday its forces have killed 13 "terrorists" in three joint operations in the southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province.

In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said its ground forces, in cooperation with the country's intelligence units, carried out the joint counter-terrorism operations in the counties of Iranshahr, Khash, and Saravan early Wednesday.

It added that some "terrorists" were also arrested during the operations, without specifying their number.

Elaborating on the operation in Iranshahr, Iran's police spokesman Saeed Montazerolmahdi said the country's security forces killed eight militants, who had been involved in a Friday attack on police patrol units in the same county that led to the deaths of five policemen, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

He added that significant amounts of weapons and ammunition were seized from the "terrorists" in Iranshahr. Some of the confiscated weapons and ammunition had been stolen by the "terrorists" during their lethal attack on the police patrol units, Tasnim said.

Sistan and Baluchestan, a province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, has witnessed recurring clashes between Iranian security forces, militants from the Baloch minority, and drug traffickers. ■