Iranian Military Base Explosion Leaves 18 Dead, Wounds 14, Fars Reports

A fire at an Iranian military base detonated ammunition, causing an explosion that killed 18 people and wounded 14, a Revolutionary Guards commander said. “The accident happened at 11 a.m. yesterday due to a fire that reached an ammunition storage and caused an explosion,” Yadollah Buali, the Revolutionary Guards commander in western Lorestan province said, according to the state-run Fars news agency. Buali didn’t specify whether the casualties at the base in Lorestan were soldiers or employees. The official Islamic Republic News Agency said yesterday that a blast took place in the western city of Khorramabad and wounded several soldiers. Khorramabad is the capital of Lorestan province. Iran’s northwestern border areas are the scene of frequent clashes between the army and fighters of the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK. Iran’s government is concerned that its Kurdish population may seek autonomy similar to that of its neighbors in northern Iraq.