TEHRAN, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Iranian military forces massed along the Iraqi border will wipe out Kurdish militants in the coming days, an Iranian commander declared.
Iranian military forces have deployed along the border with Iraq ostensibly to take on fighters in the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK.
Delavar Ranjbarzadeh, a top commander in Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that his forces captured the main PJAK base in northern Iran.
Iranian forces took control of the base during the weekend, he added, noting no Iranian forces were injured in the two-hour raid. Many PJAK militants escaped during the attack, the commander noted.
Iranian Brig. Gen. Reza Pourdastan said following the raid that PJAK would be "be wiped out in the coming days and complete security will be restored to the borders."
Turkey has been locked in bottle with PJAK affiliates in the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. The fight has been a source of contention for Iraqi officials, who warned about encroachments on their sovereignty.
