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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Clashes with Gunmen on Borders | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps members. (Reuters)


London – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) killed two militants in clashes with gunmen in the northwest of the country.

Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Guards ground forces, said that four militants were also wounded and some military material was confiscated, the Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.

The report said the clashes took place in West Azerbaijan province, which borders both Turkey and Iraq, but did not specify when the incident took place.

Clashes with Iranian Kurdish militant groups based in Iraq are common in the area. Last month, the Revolutionary Guards engaged in heavy clashes with gunmen on the border with Iraq, killing three and sustaining one fatality, IRGC said in a statement.

On the other hand, an Iranian soldier opened fire on fellow soldiers at a military firing range south of Tehran on Sunday, killing four and wounding eight, the Iranian army said in a statement.

The shooting took place in the town of Kahrizak, which is about 10 km (6 miles) south of Tehran.

The army said the incident occurred probably because either the shooter had psychological problems or due to “the sudden and accidental swiveling of a weapon.”

It added that the assailant was killed in a shootout with other soldiers.

In July, a soldier opened fire on his comrades, killing three and wounding six at a military base in the town of Abyek, 40 kilometers northwest of Tehran.

The assailant reportedly shot himself in the incident, but he survived and was taken to a nearby hospital.

He injured six others before shooting himself, the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

In that case, the shooter, who survived, had suffered from “temporary psychosis”, medical officials told ISNA.