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TEHRAN, July 27 (AFP) - 13h46 - Three Iranian
soldiers were killed in an ambush near the Turkish
border that the interior ministry blamed Wednesday
on Turkish Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK).
"Three soldiers were martyred," ministry spokesman
Jahanbakhsh Khanjani said of Tuesday evening's
ambush near the northwestern town of Oshnoviyeh.
"It was terrorists from the PKK who carried out the
ambush."
The spokesman gave no further details of the attack
and did not elaborate on why the PKK was held
responsible rather than the Iran-oriented Kurdish
rebel groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
and Komaleh.
Branded a terrorist organization by the United
States and the European Union, the PKK has fought
Ankara since 1984 and recently stepped up violence
in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast after calling
off a five-year unilateral ceasefire in June last
year.
In the past, Ankara has accused Tehran of turning a
blind eye to PKK activity on the border.
AFP
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