Four dead as Iran Revolutionary Guards fight Kurdish rebels

Regional governor Hussein Sivani says two PJAK terrorists were killed while two Revolutionary Guards lost their lives

TEHRAN: Fighting between Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and Kurdish rebels near the Turkish border have killed four people, two from each side, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The clashes took place Monday night in the West Azerbaijan province in north-western Iran, IRNA said quoting regional governor Hussein Sivani.

He said the clashes pitted members of the Revolutionary Guards against fighters from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) "terrorist group".

"Two PJAK terrorists were killed and five were injured," Sivani said, adding that the fighting also claimed the lives of two Revolutionary Guards members while two others were wounded.

IRNA said the clashes occurred at Razi-Kapikoy, a border crossing between Iran's West Azerbaijan province and Turkey's Van province which has been closed for 10 days because of unrest in Turkey.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party has been staging daily attacks against Turkey's armed forces as the military presses an operation against the outlawed group in the southeast and northern Iraq that began in July.

PJAK rebels have frequently clashed with Iranian forces, sparking retaliatory bombing in the mountainous border districts of the autonomous Kurdish region in neighbouring Iraq.

IRNA, quoting a security official, also reported on Tuesday that an attack last week by PJAK militants in the western province of Kermanshah has also killed a Revolutionary Guards member.

A number of rebels were killed and wounded, it said without giving further details.