Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they had killed dozens of Kurdish rebels in a military campaign that critics say has endangered civilians across the border in Iraq.
Colonel Hamid Ahmadi denied Iran had shelled villages in Iraq during its pursuit of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an offshoot of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Tehran blames for sabotage attacks on gas pipelines and ambushing its troops.
Aid agencies say Iranian shelling has killed some civilians and forced hundreds to flee their homes in the mountainous areas of northern Iraq, a charge Ahmadi denied.
He confirmed between 40 to 50 people had been killed in the military campaign. "Other statistics show up to 90. I don't confirm those statistics," he said. An anonymous Iranian military official has previously said Tehran considers it a right to target "terrorist bases" beyond its borders, although officials have been equivocal about saying so on the record.
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