TEHRAN: Five rebels and two members of the Revolutionary Guards have been killed in clashes in Iran`s Kordestan province near the Iraqi border, government newspaper Iran reported on Thursday.

"During clashes in Kordestan`s border area five counter-revolutionaries and two guards were killed," the report said, without elaborating on the insurgents` links or when the incident took place.

Rebels of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) have been fighting security forces in northwestern Iran which has a significant Kurdish population.

PJAK is closely allied with the Kurdistan Workers` Party, or PKK, which operates in Turkey and is listed as a "terrorist" group by Ankara and much of the international community.

Iranian forces regularly bombard the border with Iraq`s autonomous Kurdistan, where PJAK has bases, with the latest shelling reported on Monday.

In May, Iran hanged four Kurds, including a woman, for alleged ties with the group.

BDST: 13:22 HRS, August 26, 2010