Report: Iran Shells Iraq, Captures Seven Soldiers
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Iranian artillery shelled an Iraqi border town last week and then captured seven Iraqi border guards who responded to the provocation, according to the Middle East Newsline. On Saturday Iraq's Defense Ministry reported the capture of its soldiers by Iranian forces, and said it had launched an investigation into the incident. Iran's official IRNA news agency responded by saying the Iraqis had crossed into Iran before being arrested. "The reason for their infiltration is under investigation," IRNA quoted an Iranian defense official as saying. However, Iraqi officials said it was Iranian artillery fire on September 6 near the border town of Mandali, some 62 miles northeast of Baghdad, which had sparked renewed border skirmishes. A day later, an Iraqi border patrol discovered an Iranian military outpost inside Iraq. The members of the patrol were captured in the ensuing clash. Last month Kurdish officials reported Iranian shelling of supposed extremist strongholds in northern Iraq, and last year Baghdad said some of its naval patrols had been engaged by Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf.
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