THE Iranian coastguard had killed one Iraqi soldier and kidnapped nine others in a confrontation with the Iraqi coastguard, the governor of Basra told al Jazeera television.
Mohammed al-Wa'ili said the incident occurred on Saturday after Iraqi forces tried to stop a ship from smuggling oil out of Iraq.
"When they saw our boats coming closer to the ship ... the captain of this ship – who is Iranian – was able to call Iranian forces ... and Iranian boats then opened fire on our boats," he told the Arab news channel.
"This is not the first time that Iranian forces have attacked our patrols," he said.
Al Jazeera's newscaster also quoted the governor as saying Iranian forces were holding two Iraqi boats in Abadan port. |