The World - News from Jan. 18, 1988

Iran said its Revolutionary Guards made important advances in Iraqi Kurdistan, capturing positions on snow-covered heights after cutting through mine fields. Tehran radio quoted a war communique as saying that 1,500 Iraqi troops were killed or wounded and 550 captured in the operation. It said 45 square miles of Iraqi territory in northern Iraq had been “liberated” and 15 tanks and personnel carriers, 70 mortar launchers, 16 anti-aircraft cannon and 75 vehicles seized. A spokesman for the Iraqi armed forces confirmed the fighting but denied the losses.