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Iran Kills 18 Bandits, Freeing 12 Hostages in Border Area
Iran's police have killed 18 armed bandits and freed 12 hostages in their battles with the mob over the past few days in the northeastern province of Khorasan, Iran's state IRNA news agency reported Sunday.
Brig. Gen. Yaqoub Ali Nazari, commander of Law and Order Authority (LOA) of Khorasan Province which borders drug-producing Afghanistan, was quoted by IRNA as saying that the hostages were freed in two separate operations carried out by the LOA.
Nazari said that LOA also seized during the operations over 108 kilograms of morphine, 30 kilograms of opium, two kilograms of heroine, in addition to some ammunition from the bandits.
Iran is a major transit route for drugs smuggling from neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan to the lucrative European and Gulf markets. Official reports showed that 740 traffickers and 174 policemen were killed in the drug-related gun battles last year.
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