Iranian Troops Cross Into Iraq, Killing 30

General Says Slain Were Responsible for Recent Mahabad Bombing

by Jason Ditz, September 26, 2010

Iranian troops crossed the border into Iraq today and attacked a group of Kurdish militants in the mountainous border region of Iraqi Kurdistan, killing at least 30, according to Iran’s state media.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards General Mahmoudabadi says that those killed in the clash were responsible for last week’s attack on the military parade in the city of Mahabad, which killed 12 people.

Both Iranian and Turkish troops have repeatedly launched strikes into Iraqi Kurdistan over the past several years, claiming that the region is being used as a refuge for separatist movements from their respective countries.

Though Iran is on extremely good terms with the Maliki government, border tensions have occasionally flared, and Iraq has positioned a considerable number of troops along the border in places where the border is ill-defined. This generally does not apply in semi-autonomous Kurdistan, however, as that region has its own security forces, the Peshmerga.

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