Iran shells border towns in response to air raids

Press, 24 December 1986, Page 6

Iran shells border towns in response to air raids

NZPA-Reuter Bahrain Iranian long-range guns pounded Iraqi border areas during Tuesday night in retaliation for air raids in which hundreds of civilians were reported killed. Iraq announced only one death, in the southern city of Basra, but “Teheran Radio” said heavy losses and casualties had been inflicted and columns of smoke and fire could be seen rising from “tens of military townships.” Iraq, keeping up its pressure from the air, said its planes flew 221 sorties yesterday in what appeared to have been one of the heaviest blitzes of the six-year-old war. A High Command communique listed a variety of military targets, includ-

ing troop concentrations, convoys and ammunition dumps, across a wide area of southern and western Iran. “Teheran Radio” said the new raids killed at least 100 civilians, bringing the total in two days to more than 200. Iraq’s air attacks came against a background of reports from both sides that Iran was ready to launch a ground offensive intended to strike a decisive blow to end the war. Iranian shells have been falling on Basra, Iraq’s second city, and other border areas since Sunday night. The bombardment began after an Iraqi air raid on Sunday which Iranian officials said killed 103 people in Bakhtaran, 430 km south-west of Teheran.