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An Iranian soldier opened fire on his colleagues, killing three and wounding 12 of them at a military air base in south Tehran, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

The report said one of the victims was an officer and the other two were regular soldiers. It added that the assailant was killed in a shootout with other soldiers.

All injured soldiers were taken to an Air Force hospital in southeast of the city, the report said.

Mehr's report offered no motive for the attack, which it said took place in Kahrizak, on the southern outskirts of Tehran.

Later Sunday, state TV said the reason of the shooting was either the assailant's "mental?problem" ''or accidental" firing. It said the case is still under investigation.

State TV's report put the total death toll at four, including the assailant, and number of wounded commanders at eight.

The reported shooting is the latest to strike Iran.

In July, a soldier opened fire on his comrades, killing three and wounding six at a military base in the town of Abyek, some 62 miles (100 kilometers) west of Tehran. The assailant reportedly shot himself in the incident, but survived and was taken to a nearby hospital.

In September, a soldier killed himself after shooting to death three of his comrades in the south of the country.

Military service of up to 24 months is mandatory for men age 19 and above in Iran.

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Report: Iranian soldier opens fire at air base, kills 3 - ABC News

(Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards clashed with a group of militants in the northwest of the country, killing two of them, the Tasnim news site reported on Sunday.

Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Guards ground forces, said that four militants were also wounded and some military material was confiscated, according to Tasnim.

The report said the clashes took place in West Azarbaijan province, which borders both Turkey and Iraq, but did not specify when the incident took place.

Clashes with Iranian Kurdish militant groups based in Iraq are common in the area. Last month, the Revolutionary Guards engaged in heavy clashes with gunmen on the border with Iraq, killing three of them and sustaining one fatality, the Guards said in a statement.

On June 7, Islamic State attacked parliament in Tehran and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini, killing at least 18 people. All of the attackers were Iranian Kurds.

The Revolutionary Guards fired several missiles at Islamic State bases in Syria on June 18 in response to that attack.

Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Richard Balmforth

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Iran's Guards clash with militants on western border, two killed - Reuters

India and Iran remain committed to the Chabahar port project, said the government after a meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, who met on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of Mr. Rouhani in Teheran to discuss bilateral issues.

During the meeting, Mr. Gadkari also handed over an invitation to the Iranian President to visit India.

Both sides reiterated their commitment to complete and operationalise the [Chabahar] Port at the earliest that would contribute to bilateral and regional trade and economic development and also provide alternative access to landlocked Afghanistan to regional and global markets, a statement from the MEA said on Sunday. The visit by a senior Minister like Mr. Gadkari, who represented India at the swearing-in ceremony for Mr. Rouhani on Saturday, is seen as a significant reach out by the government after months of a slide in relations between the two countries, while the statement on Chabahar port comes after months of delays in progress on the project. Once Chabahar is operationalised, which we are hopeful to be in 12 to 18 months time, it will prove to be a gateway to golden opportunities to boost trade and business, Mr. Gadkari told PTI in Teheran.

Oil imports

In the past few months, India has also slashed oil imports from Iran by as much as 20%, according to shipping figures released in June, and is expected to lower its projected imports further in the wake of growing tensions between Iran and the U.S.

On August 2, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law new sanctions against Iran, indicating the tensions would rise further. India, which imported oil from the U.S. for the first time in July after PM Narendra Modis visit to the U.S., is increasing its oil intake from Iraq and Saudi Arabia instead.

Indicating the Iranian unhappiness over the moves, the government in Teheran cut down the credit period offered to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), and also inked an agreement for developing the Farzad-b gas fields to Russian company Gazprom, which Indias OVL had expected to win, and had made an $11 billion development bid for.

Although India and Afghanistan have both ratified the Chabahar trilateral deal inked last year in Teheran by Mr. Modi, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and President Rouhani, Irans internal processes have not been completed yet.

On the political front too, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei statements comparing the violence in Kashmir to that in Palestine suggested Irans unhappiness over PM Modis visit to Israel, and Mr. Gadkaris visit is seen as a bid by both sides to reset the relationship.

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Gadkari reaches out to Iran - The Hindu

Hundreds of jihadi militants have returned to France from Iraq and Syria, France's interior minister said on Sunday.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Gerard Collomb said that an estimated271 radical Islamistswhofought for militant groups have returned from war zones after being members of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

The figure is made up of 217 adults and 54 minors,some of whom are in French detention, and all of whom are under security services surveillance,Collomb told the paper. The minister could not provide a precise figure on how many French nationals had been killed in Iraq and Syria, but estimated that as many as 1,900 French nationals were involved in radical Islamist activities in Iraq and Syria, according to interior ministry data as of mid-2016.

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The minister said the threat of a militant assault on French soil remained "very high," with authorities foiling seven plots already this year. A key concern of the French counter-terror forces, he said, was a homegrown radical being directed "remotely" by ISIS or Al-Qaeda figures in the Middle East.

The country is battling the most serious case of homegrown extremism in the European Union, with around 15,000 suspected radical Islamists on the watch-lists of French authorities, overseen by the country's Counter-Terrorism Coordination Unit, with some 4,000 individuals at high risk of committing an attack.

Security serviceshave also prevented several female homegrown jihadis from carrying out attacks, in what represents a new dimension of the threat to the country's security. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said lastSeptember that "hundreds" of radicalized women could return from Iraq and Syria as ISIS continues to lose territory to ground forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition.

A soldier stands guard at the Eiffel Tower, Paris, November 15, 2015. The French Interior Minister said in a newspaper interview Sunday that hundreds of radical militants had returned to France. David Ramos/Getty Images

The country has borne the brunt of radical Islamist attacks in Europe, with several mass casualty attacks striking major cities since January 2015. As a member of the anti-ISIS coalition and one of the most liberal countries in the West, France is a top target for jihadi groups.

Shooting attacks on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in January 2015 were followed by an ISIS cell that launched a suicide bomb and shooting attack across the French capital in November 2015, killing 130 people.

Months after France fell under a state of emergency, which remains in place today, a Tunisian national plowed a high-tonnage truck into revelers watching the Bastille Day fireworks on the promenade of the southern city of Nice.

Several smaller attacks, such as the murder of a priest in northern France and the shooting of a policeman on Paris' famous Champs-Elysees avenue, have since taken place.

The failure of Francois Hollande's Socialist government, replaced by centrist Emmanuel Macron in June's election, to tackle security led to a corresponding surge in support for Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front party that spouted anti-immigrant and anti-Islam rhetoric.

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French Minister: Hundreds of Jihadis Have Returned From Iraq and Syria - Newsweek

JUL 30, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces launched airstrikes on ISIS positions near Iraqi-Syrian border, which destroyed weapons and munitions cache belonging to ISIS.

Iraqi Security Forces with the cooperation of civilians managed to arrest 12 ISIS who sneaked from the western side to the eastern side of Mosul by surrounding the areas of Summer, Palastin, and Yarmaja in Mosul city.

Popular Mobilization Forces

Repelled ISIS attacks in Risalah neighborhood located in Qahtaniyah west Sinjar district and Zawiyah Junction in Salah Al-Din.

Others: Three civilians got killed and four were injured due to an IED explosion in Raas Al-Jada area in the western side of Mosul city

JUL 31, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Launched airstrikes on ISIS positions in Tal Asfuk Port near Iraqi-Syrian border and near Hamdaniyah in Ba'aj district of Ninewa, other strikes were also launched on Alush village in Hawiga district of Kirkuk.

Found and cleared IEDs, and IED belts in a workshop in Mosul Al-Qadimah in Mosul. Popular Mobilization Forces

Repelled ISIS attacks in areas near Iraqi-Syrian border west of Ninewa and Zawiyah Junction in Makhoul Mountains in Salah Al-Din, which led to destroying lots of their vehicles.

Destroyed 3 VBIEDS in Ain Talawi village west of Telafar.

AUG 1, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces launched an airstrike on the eastern neighborhoods of Telafar city in Ninewa Popular Mobilization Forces

Launched a big operation in southwest of Mosul city in order to clear the liberated villages from ISIS remnants.

AUG 2, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Popular Mobilization Forces

Launched shells on ISIS positions in Makhoul Mountains in Salah Al-Din and near Iraqi-Syrian border.

Destroyed a heavy carrying ISIS vehicle in Makhoul Mountains in Salah Al-Din.

ISIS Planted an IED in a house in Bab Jadid in Mosul Al-Qadimah, it exploded and led to the death of two civilians and the injury of one.

AUG 3, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Popular Mobilization Forces

ISIS ambushed two security officers in Najma village in Qayarah south of Mosul, which led to the death of one and the disappearance of the other one.

AUG 4, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Mountain in Kirkuk.

Repelled an ISIS attack on the Security Forces headquarters in Aghawat neighborhood in Mosul city. Popular Mobilization Forces

Repelled an ISIS attack in Al-Jughaifi area western Ba'aj district of Ninewa, Ayn Al-Baitha village, and Zawiyah Junction in Salah Al-Din.

Found and cleared two VBIEDs, SIEDs, and three improvised fighting vehicles in Zawiyah sector in Salah Al-Din and Al-Jughaifir area western Ba'aj district.

ISIS

Executed four civilians by shooting them in an agricultural land near Telafar city.

Killed three members of Peshmarga Forces and injured two others by an IED explosion in Tamur village in Kirkuk.

AUG 5, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Launched strikes on an ISIS convoy in Telafar district.

Found and cleared a tunnel that contains ERW in the southern area of Mosul Al-Qadima.

With the support of Popular Mobilization Forces repelled an ISIS attack in Al-Khanoka in Salah Al-Din. Popular Mobilization Forces

Repelled ISIS attacks on Tal Safuk in Ninewa, Al-Namel junction and Al-Tasni'e Al-A'skari junction in Salah Al-Din.

Found and cleared weapons and munitions in Al-Namel junction and Al-Tasni'e Al-A'skari juction in Salah Al-Din.

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Iraq: Mosul Humanitarian Response: Weekly Explosive Incidents Report (30 July - 05 August 2017) - ReliefWeb