Iranian Forces Clash With Separatists

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's state-run news agency is reporting that security forces have clashed with Kurdish separatist militants who infiltrated a northwestern village to stage "terrorist and propagandist operations."

The Saturday report by IRNA quotes an unnamed official from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying the clashes happened Friday in the Mahabad County of West Azerbaijan province.

The report did not mention if there were casualties.

On June 16, Iran's Revolutionary Guard battled armed members of an insurgent Kurdish group in West Azerbaijan province, which is located near its border with Iraq and Turkey.

Both sides gave conflicting death tolls from the fighting, as the Guard said it killed 12 insurgents while three of its members died. The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan said Kurds killed over 12 Guard members, including a colonel.

(KA)