8 Guards Killed in Clashes With Terrorists

Iran's state television said on Friday eight border guards were killed in clashes with a group of militants in northwestern Azarbaijan Province that borders both Iraq and Turkey. "At least eight Iranian guards were killed in heavy clashes between the border guards and a group of terrorists in the Chaldoran border area on Friday," said Alireza Radfar, the deputy governor general of the province said, Reuters reported. "The terrorists sustained heavy losses during the clashes that are still ongoing along the border with Turkey." The Chaldoran border, about 860 km northwest of the capital Tehran, is near neighboring Turkey and Iraq's borders. Clashes with militant and counter-revolutionary groups are common in the area. Iranian security forces have mounted a crackdown on militant groups in border regions since the June attacks by the self-styled Islamic State terror group on the Iranian Parliament and the mausoleum of the late Imam Khomeini in Tehran, killing at least 18 people.