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Iran reports clash with Afghan militia
Taliban denies incident
October 8, 1998Web posted at: 9:37 a.m. EDT (1337 GMT)
In this story:
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- After an attack by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia in northeastern Iran, Iranian troops responded, inflicting "heavy casualties" on the Taliban forces, said a commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. But the Taliban denied that the tensions between the forces had escalated into a battle.
"The Taliban suffered heavy casualties in this clash and three of their border posts were completely destroyed," Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces, told the Iranian news agency IRNA.
According to Iranian television, Taliban forces attacked Iranian border posts in northeastern Khorasan province with machine guns early Thursday and Iranian border guards returned fire, forcing Taliban fighters to retreat.
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Jafari said the battle lasted three hours and that the area was now calm.
Predominantly Shiite Muslim Iran has been at odds with the purist Sunni Taliban since the militia swept into Kabul two years ago and deposed the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani, whom Tehran backs.
Tensions grew in August when the militia, which controls 90 percent of Afghanistan, admitted that its fighters killed eight Iranian diplomats and a journalist in northern Afghanistan.
Iran has demanded an apology from the Taliban and wants the culprits handed over for trial in Tehran.
Taliban leaders have refused both demands, calling the diplomats "conspirators." It also has accused Iran of arming and financing opposition forces in northern Afghanistan.
Attack claim denied
Iran said the attack occurred at 6:30 a.m. Thursday (0300 GMT/11 p.m. EDT Wednesday) in Torbat-e Jam in the Saleh Abad region.
The area is about 180 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of the Iranian city of Mashhad.
"The attack was confronted with responses by the forces stationed at our country's border posts, and as a result the Taliban forces were forced to ... retreat," the television reported, quoting an army statement.
But Shakeel, a Taliban spokesman who uses only one name, said no clash had taken place. "We received this information and we checked from our people and it is wrong," he said.
Contacted at the Taliban headquarters in southern Kandahar, Shakeel said, "There is no truth in this report and it is propaganda against the Taliban."
Troops on both sides of border
Iran has massed more than 200,000 troops on its border with Afghanistan and has conducted several large-scale military exercises during the past few weeks.
Afghanistan's Taliban army has sent an estimated 10,000 troops to its border with Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi reiterated Wednesday that Tehran wants a peaceful settlement with the Taliban, but warned that his country was running out of patience.
"We do not discount using military force to fulfill our demands. There is a certain limit to our restraint with the Taliban," Kharrazi said.
The Taliban government is recognized only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
