General Hassan Karami, commander of security forces in Iran's West Azerbaijan province, said the casualties occurred in the town of Nagadah -- around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from where Iran borders both Iraq and Turkey.

The area is populated by both ethnic Kurds and Azeris.

The general did not say when the deaths and injuries took place and gave no further details on the circumstances.

However he did say that "two armed members of the PKK were in the crowd" in front of a public building, and that they were being hunted, referring to Turkey's outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party.

/www.turkishpress.com/