RNA - Following intelligence activities, the IRGC ground forces' Najaf base on Saturday engaged in clashes with 21 members of the Daesh terrorist group, which had entered the country through its western borders.
Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the IRGC ground forces, said that 16 Daesh terrorists had been arrested during the operation while a number of them were killed.
Three members of the IRGC forces also lost their lives in the clashes, he added.
The commander said that the terrorists had planned to carry out attacks in central and border cities.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry said earlier this month that Iranian security forces had dismantled a terrorist group and arrested its members in the country’s northwestern province of West Azarbaijan.
The ministry said in a statement that the terrorist group “which had infiltrated into Iran with the aim of fueling” a wave of protest over rising prices were put under surveillance in the city of Piranshahr.
The IRGC also dismantled a terrorist group in October in an operation in West Azarbaijan.
IRGC ground forces launched the operation after receiving information that a terrorist team of four had infiltrated the Chaldoran region of the province and had killed two locals.
Iran has arrested dozens of terrorists since twin terrorist attacks in the Iranian capital of Tehran in June 2017.
On June 7, 2017, gunmen mounted almost simultaneous assaults on Iran’s parliament and the Mausoleum of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini. Daesh claimed responsibility for the strikes. The twin attacks killed 17 people and injured over 50 more.
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