14 killed in chase of drug traffickers in Iran

A 24-hour pursuit of drug traffickers has ended with the death of 14 people - smugglers, security force members and civilians – and the seizure of 1.5 tonnes of narcotics, Iranian state television reported today.

The report said four of the dead were traffickers, but it did not explain how civilians came to be killed in the series of shoot-outs during the operation, which ended on yesterday in Hana, a town 300 miles south of Tehran.