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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Bombers of Iran military parade killed |
| 2010-09-27 |
| TEHERAN — The ‘main elements’ behind the bombing at a military parade in Iran which killed 12 people were themselves killed by the elite Revolutionary Guards on Saturday, a senior commander said on Sunday. Mohammad Pakpour, head of the Guards’ ground forces, also accused Israel and the United States of supporting Wednesday’s attack in the ethnically Kurdish northwestern town of Mahabad in West Ajarbaijan province, ILNA news agency reported. ‘Upon the arrival of terrorists at the location of a meeting with other counter-revolutionaries in a border area, the siege and confrontation operation was put in motion,’ Pakpour was quoted as saying. ‘Several mercenaries and agents of global arrogance, including the main elements behind the terrorist crime at Mahabad, were killed,’ he said. Pakpour did not elaborate on the location of the operation or the number of casualties. Wednesday’s bombing targeted a military parade in Mahabad, killing 12 people and wounding at least 81 others. Most of the victims were reported to be women and children. The attack came as Iran showcased military hardware at anniversary parades across the country commemorating the 1980-88 war with Iraq, in which an estimated one million people died on both sides. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the Mahabad attack, saying it ‘underscores the international community’s need to work together to combat terrorism.’ But Pakpour said Iran believed the United States and Israel were behind the bombing. ‘Investigations indicate the driving engine behind the Mahabad terrorist attack was the Zionist regime’s spy agency (Mossad), with the cooperation of the Americans as well as some elements of the Baath party in Iraq,’ he was quoted as saying without providing further details. He did not make any reference to suspected involvement by any regional groups. Western Iran, which has a sizeable Kurdish population, has seen deadly clashes in recent years between the Iranian security forces and Kurdish rebel groups, mainly the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) operating from bases in neighbouring Iraq. |
| Posted by:Steve White |