March 02, 2007	Friday	Safar 12, 1428

TEHRAN, March 1: Iranian security forces killed 17 rebels in the latest clashes in West Azarbaijan province close to the Turkish and Iraqi borders in northwest Iran, a Revolutionary Guards commander said on Thursday.

“Seventeen rebels who entered Iran to carry out sabotage work have been killed,” Colonel Jalil Babazadeh of the elite force told the IRNA news agency.

Four members of the Guards were also killed in the clashes, including one commander, two lieutenants and a rank-and-file member, the commander said, without specifying when the fighting took place.

West Azarbaijan province has been the scene of a string of deadly clashes in recent days between Iranian security forces and rebels linked to the Kurdish separatist group Pejak.

Guards chief Yayha Rahim Safavi said on Wednesday around 30 rebels had been killed by security forces in the clashes, which have coincided with an upsurge of unrest in the Sistan-Baluchestan province in the southeast of Iran.

The authorities have repeatedly accused the United States and Britain of seeking to stir unrest amongst ethnic minorities in sensitive areas close to the Turkish, Iraqi and Pakistani borders.—AFP