Iran troop 'build-up near Iraq border'

BAGHDAD: Iran is building up its troops near the Iraqi border and is shelling the remote northeast borders.

Two women were injured in the shelling in the Kurdish area of Iraq for the last three days forcing evacuation of 200 families, Hussein Ahmed, the mayor of Qal'at Dizah town close to the Iranian border said.

He said several thousand Iranian soldiers could also be seen near the border.

There was no immediate comment from Tehran or Baghdad on the reports.

Earlier, the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed near the border with northern Iraq had been engaged in a military operation against the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an offshoot of the PKK. Iranian media said six military personnel were killed in the crash, which happened during manoeuvres involving Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on Friday. Full text