Iranian troops kill Kurdish rebels

Iranian elite troops have killed five Kurdish rebels in a gun battle in the west of the country, reports say.

The five were members of the separatist group the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) military commanders said.

The three men and two women were killed when Iranian Revolutionary Guards responded to clashes in the Kermanshah region near the Iraqi border.

PJAK was formed in 2004 and is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, the Separatist group based in Turkey.

In January Iranian forces clashed with Kurdish fighters in Iran's north western border region and arrested a suspect in the killing of a prosecutor.