A senior officer of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards was among six soldiers killed in festivities with Kurdish rebels on the border with Iraq, Fars news agency reported yesterday."General Assemi of the Qom branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was killed along with five of his comrades in festivities with terrorist rebels of the PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan) in the Sardasht area," the agency said, without giving any further details.
Iranian troops launched a major offensive on Saturday against PJAK rebels operating out of rear-bases in neighbouring Iraq.
On Tuesday, the autonomous regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan demanded Iran respect the border after a Guards commander said Iranian forces had taken "full control" of three PJAK camps inside Iraq.