Iranian security forces have killed 12 counter-revolutionary militants in the northwest of the country near the border with Iraq.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said that the militants were killed in the city of Sardasht in West Azarbaijan province.

A group of 12 gunmen, who sought to carry out acts of sabotage inside the country with the support and guidance of Saudi Arabia and extra-regional countries, has been busted, the ministry said.

Earlier, governor of Sardasht, Aziz Hassani, had told IRNA that border guards engaged the counter-revolutionary militants on Tuesday night and their clashes lasted for several hours into Wednesday.

The Iranian forces sustained no casualties during the clashes in the border city, the official said, adding that security had been restored.



Iranian security forces have recently engaged militants and terrorists in border regions as well as inside the country.

In July, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said its forces had dismantled two terrorist groups in the provinces of Kordestan and West Azarbaijan after clashes that killed 23 militants.

In the same month, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said it had foiled a major Takfiri-Wahhabi plot to carry out bomb attacks in the capital, Tehran, and other provinces and arrested suspects.

In June, the IRGC also said its forces had busted a number of terrorist cells and killed dozens of terrorists in the northwest of the country.

Last month, the commander of the IRGC Ground Forces’ Quds Base, Brigadier General Mohammad Marani, said the IRGC forces had managed to bust up to four anti-Iran terrorist groups beyond the Iranian borders.

By Press TV