Iran kills 10 rebels in border clash

The clash took place Monday near the town of Salmas in Iran's West Azarbaijan province, 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border with Turkey and 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Iraq, an army statement carried by media said.

"Operational units succeeded on Monday in killing 10 armed counter-revolutionaries in the Salmas region as part of a campaign to cleanse and secure this border region," the statement said.

It did not give further details on the rebels but past incidents in the area and its ethnic composition indicate they were linked to Kurdish militants.

West Azarbaijan province has been the scene of regular armed clashes between Iranian security forces and Kurdish militant parties, in particular Pejak, a group linked to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"Cleansing operations are continuing in this region," the army added.

Iranian security forces killed dozens of rebels in separate incidents in March and February and also lost 14 of their own personnel in a helicopter crash during those operations.

The authorities insisted at the time that the crash was an accident although the rebels issued a statement claiming the helicopter had been shot down.

Iran is bound by treaty with Turkey to fight the PKK. In return, Turkey has pledged to fight Iran's main armed opposition group, the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen.

Turkey has praised Iran's efforts to crack down on Kurdish rebels linked to the PKK, who have been waging a deadly armed struggle for self-rule in the southeast of Turkey since 1984.

Turkey and Iran have in turn expressed dissatisfaction with Iraq's failure to expel Kurdish militants from its side of the border and even threatened to launch cross-border raids inside Iraq if Baghdad does not act.

Iranian authorities have regularly accused the United States and Britain of seeking to stir unrest amongst ethnic minorities in its sensitive border areas close to the Turkish, Iraqi and Pakistani frontiers.

Iran announced on Sunday that it has smashed major sabotage networks masterminded by the United States aimed at creating ethnic tensions in its border provinces.

It said the networks had been broken up in Khuzestan province which is home to a substantial community of Arabs, Kordestan which is home to the Kurds and the northern provinces with an Azeri majority.

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