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A truck bomb attack on a bus carrying members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, killed 27 Guards and wounded 13 others in the southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan Province on Wednesday, 

The Guards, part of the elite branch of Iran's armed forces, were traveling a 100-mile mountainous route from the city of Khash to the provincial capital of Zahedan, when they came under attack, reports Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, citing a statement from the Revolutionary Guards.

The group's Quds Force unit said the United States, its allies and Zionism shared responsibility for the attack, without elaborating on the claim.

the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium

, known as TRAC, posted a tweet allegedly showing a message from the Sunni militant group Jaish al Adl, 


The group's fighters, whose name is also spelled Jaysh al Adl, which translates to Army of Justice, have been known to 

 in the greater Baluchistan area targeting Shia Muslims.


The region, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, is occasionally marred by Baluch separatist attacks, reports NPR's Peter Kenyon. In December, another deadly suicide bombing targeted police in the city of Chabahar.

Wednesday's attack came as a two-day international summit kicked off in Poland.


The U.S. is co-hosting the gathering called the 

Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East

. But the focus is expected to be on Iran and what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 

, Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Javad Zarif, who has been critical of the Warsaw gathering, obliquely implied there could be a connection between the summit and the attack on the Revolutionary Guards.


"Is it no coincidence that Iran is hit by terror on the very day that #WarsawCircus begins?"


The attack came on the heels of Iran's celebrating the 40th anniversary of its revolution, which saw the overthrow of the U.S.-backed shah as well as the 

Disasters

Amy Held

Author

The Guards were killed in a restive region bordering Pakistan. Without providing evidence, Iran blamed the U.S. for the attack.

Nearly 2 dozen Iranian Revolutionary Guards reportedly killed in bomb attack

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