TEHRAN, May 13 (Reuters) - Iranian border guards detained 10 people who illegally entered the country from Pakistan carrying $500,000 in cash, maps of "sensitive areas" and "modern spying cameras", state television said on Sunday.

The arrests took place in the volatile Iranian border province of Sistan-Baluchestan, which has seen an upsurge in unrest and is a favourite route of drug smugglers.

The report did not give details or make clear when the group was detained, saying more information would be made available in coming days.

In February, a booby-trapped car blew up a bus owned by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in the city of Zahedan in the province, killing at least 11 people and wounding 31 others.

Responsibility for that attack was claimed by a shadowy Sunni group, Jundallah (God's soldiers), which Iran has said is linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Tehran has blamed Jundallah for past killings in the area bordering Pakistan.

Iran has accused Britain and the United States of supporting ethnic minority rebels operating in sensitive border areas in an attempt to destabilise the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim country.

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