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Friday 2 October 2009

Reuters: Two police, four gunmen killed in west Iran clash






TEHRAN, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Two police and four "terrorists" were killed in a clash in the capital of Iran's Kurdistan province, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.It said a number of other people were wounded when security forces attacked and dismantled a "terrorist team linked to a counter-revolutionary trend" on Sunday night in the western city of Sanandaj.

Ammunition was seized and arrests made, it added.Kurdistan province, bordering Iraq, is the scene of frequent clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian security forces.Like neighbouring Iraq and Turkey, Iran has a large Kurdish minority, mainly living in the country's northwest and west. Iran is a mainly Shi'ite Muslim country, but most Kurds are Sunni Muslims.The ISNA news agency suggested the group targeted by police in Sunday's incident was involved in killings in the region, including this month's shooting of a Sunni cleric in Sanandaj.

Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar blamed "terrorist elements" who he said were foreign-backed and aimed to create divisions between Sunnis and Shi'ites, state broadcaster IRIB said.Iran often accuses its Western foes of trying to destabilise sensitive border areas. (Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; writing by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Dominic Evans)

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